I'll tell you how badly we need snow to cover the icy conditions we've been left with on the ground after freeze-and-thaw cycles following rain events when snow should have been falling but failed to. On our way up the street to gain the entrance to the ravine early this afternoon, although I was wearing my cleats firmly strapped over my boots, I nonetheless slipped sideways on the road ice, thick and uneven, and fell with a resounding thud. You know the kind of sound you make when people beside you wince because the sound quite equals the force with which your unready body hits the ground? That kind.

Our son, right at my side, hauled me to my feet, while his father frantically asked if I was all right. Of course I was, and on we went to reach the ravine entrance and beyond into the forest. There, we discovered that the trails, if anything, were even worse than they'd been in the previous days while we were awaiting a snow cover to reduce the danger of slipping. Needless to say we all proceeded with the required caution. We took a particularly long circuit, despite the icy conditions. Our son refused to wear cleats and he managed as he always does, with his long and intimate familiarity with the out-of-doors and its seasonal challenges.

Jackie and Jillie experienced no problems, and with their little rubber booties they booted it right along, scampering here and there in a display of exuberant pleasure at just being there, on the trails, Jillie zipping straight ahead and Jackie meandering swiftly off trail into the thick of the underbrush on the forest trails; so many irresistible fragrances to discover....

As it happened, it was in very fact, snowing. The forecast had been for morning flurries, but we discovered those flurries had decided to stick around and they kept coming down throughout the afternoon, sometimes heavily, at other times more lightly, but regardless we were grateful. We will, however, need a lot more than mere flurries however fluffy and beautiful to behold, to make a difference in the situation we're facing of such icy surfaces everywhere.

We took our time, our son slowing his usual pace considerably to accommodate our more cautious and necessarily slower one. The ascents and descents were nothing short of demanding physically and auguring problems if care were not taken adequately, so we obeyed that imperative in the best interests of remaining upright and in control.

We went out to do our usual weekly grocery shopping afterward. Since it's Boxing Day and people are lured to all the sales advertising, we anticipated the supermarket would be relatively becalmed and it was. After we'd gathered everything we thought we would need for the week, paid and left our weekly deposit of imperishable foods in the large Food Bank container, we got everything into the trunk of the car and then it was that I remembered I'd forgotten a key ingredient for the casserole I was planning to make for tonight's dinner.

Back we went and I hurriedly picked up three good-sized zucchini, made my way to the cashiers and there were but two open as a reflection of how quiet the store was with far fewer shoppers than would be the norm. Just as I was making my way to the one Express cash open to be the fourth in line, a burly young man with a half-full shopping cart made a dash to cut me off, and there I was, three zucchini in hand.

I moved over to the only other cash open and there was a modest line-up, the last was an elderly couple with a half-full shopping cart. The cashier speedily processed the few people with their few purchases and then came the half-full cart, and I asked if the couple in front of me wouldn't mind if I went before them since I had only 'one' item to go through the cash, and they beamed in unison and graciously invited me to precede them.