Finally, and none too soon, the weather appears to have done a turn in our favour. In favour, that is to say of drying up the drenched atmosphere, sodden from continual rain slapping moisture against every available surface, helped enormously by accompanying high winds. Now the winds are helping to dry out the atmosphere but it will take time.

Although there was still the possibility of isolated showers in yesterday's forecast, we did see the sun on occasion, and it was hugely welcome. Its warming rays, and the brightness it casts over everything does much to cheer people up, still suffering from the doldrums of late, reluctant-to-leave winter.

Above the ravine in the forest there are ample vestiges of the ravages the pounding rain exacts on the forest floor, with little lakes and puddles everywhere, eventually to soak into the already-saturated ground. Although we'd thought there would be sightings of trilliums in bloom after their always-surprising pop-ups, none had yet opened.

But the coltsfoot, first to bring their cheery flowers to bloom, raised their bright golden heads to the sun in patches here and there along the forest trails. And the colonies of trout lilies, so much in evidence under the as-yet-unleafed stands of deciduous trees are now showing off the occasional perky little yellow flower; their blooms are never seen in great abundance despite the show of numerous spear-shaped foliage with their distinctive colouration.

And as soon as the trout lilies will have completed whatever blooming will take place among the plants, it will be the foam flowers and the lilies-of-the-valley that take their place. And our most favourite, Jack-in-the-pulpits.

Yesterday's wonderful weather brought out quite a contingent of area residents, not normally seen poking through the woods. Along with their dogs whose excursions into the forest are such seldom occasions. We came across a familiar figure halfway through our circuit, a man who lives alongside the ravine whose street is located some distance from ours along the course of the ravine, and whose canine companion we thought so highly of, a white German Shepherd no longer accompanies him; it was a year ago that Lily suddenly suffered a catastrophic stroke and died.

Now, after having mourned her absence for a year, Rob has a new companion, a three-month-old male puppy he had to drive all the way to North Bay to pick up from someone who breeds white German Shepherds. The puppy's good-nature is already evident. And it's as excitable as only a puppy can be. Jackie and Jillie were interested but also stand-offish with the puppy's happy overtures. They cannot relate to their own puppyhood when their joyful intrusion into mature dogs' space was viewed as offensive by older dogs; now they exhibit the very same disinterest in a puppy's antics that they were exposed to on the part of mature dogs.