Daisy may be a mere sprite of a dog as a Maltese, but she has the confidence in self assurance shared by many tiny dogs. She is never intimidated in the presence of larger dogs -- and all and any dogs are larger than she is. The very sight of her trotting confidently along the forest trails is a refreshing vision of minuscule sweetness.

She has no hesitation whatever in approaching a gaggle of dogs, excitable and physical; she just simply and calmly enters their orbit and they seem to place a temporary spur on their antics. She is so tiny that when Jackie  -- a small dog himself, stands in front of her, you can barely see Daisy. You get the true picture when one as large as a Portuguese Water Dog or even a 7-month-old Australian Shepherd pup stands beside her.

It seems that we are to expect a spate of unusual temperature moderation, much milder than we have any right to expect at this time of year; far too early for spring to begin arriving yet. We can begin musing about spring's arrival in mid- to late-March.

The past several days appear to have approached the initial stages of a forecasted spell of double-digit-plus, however. That, plus that this is a holiday week-end, appears to have brought quite a few people and their companion animals out to the forest for enjoyable treks along the trails.

As for the trails themselves, in days previous treacherously icy, we note with some measure of relief that they're nowhere near as slippery though it's never a good idea to let down your guard since invariably there will be patches where microclimates even within the ravine -- particularly within the low-lying areas -- where temperatures are inclined to remain more frigid, translate to icy patches.

Irrespective of which, we chalked up another perfect Sunday stroll for us and for our two little charges, Jackie and Jillie. Plenty of other dogs to come across and socialize with before moving on to complete our circuit along the network of trails throughout the ravine for the day.