Rain was copious and incessant beginning the night before on into the morning hours, extending to the afternoon, then the evening and the following night. That was yesterday. Precipitation that was continuous and fell in the form of rain because the temperature rose to a surprising 6C. That much rain has quite an impact on the snowpack in this region understandably, and we could see it melting away.

It also meant that with the volume of rain that was coming down there was no sensible way we could enter the ravine for our daily walk in the woods even with raingear, and in the process, keep reasonably dry. Certainly not for our little dogs. So we stayed home. Not so awful, one day without a walk. But it doesn't feel right. And we impute that event to Jackie's refusal to eat breakfast this morning.

When we came down for breakfast, however what a sight met our eyes! Snow, glorious snow. The overnight rain had gradually been transformed to snow as the temperature dropped. So that by morning everything was once again covered with a nice, albeit not thick, layer of snow. It looked wonderful. And allayed our fears of a completely iced-over ravine.

By the time we did get out and into the ravine later on, it still wasn't dreadfully cold, at -2C, but there was a harsh, cutting wind that had brought down quite a bit of woody detritus from the forest canopy over the course of yesterday. Imagine, the first official calendar day of the winter equinox's arrival and instead of snow we got rain. Just as well it was the shortest day of the year.

We were heartened to view a mini-wonderland surrounding us; not as voluptuously laden with snow as would occur with a really good snowstorm but passable. So we were all happy to plunge into the ravine and set out on a pleasant and beautiful-to-observe winter walk in the woods.

The creek and all its tributaries had been freed of ice given that unusual weather and were fast running. The trails had a light layer of snow over the ice-thickened floor that yesterday's rain had left but our cleats guaranteed a good grip, though we could see the slipping and sliding that complicated the passage of several hikers who had been out before us.

Protected in the ravine from the wind and with the temperature hovering a mite under -2C, it was more than comfortable striding along the forest trails, admiring the short-range landscapes and in areas where sightlines are more distant, the larger landscapes that presented themselves. Given that this is the last week-end for Christmas shopping, we saw a fair number of others out on the trails with their dogs. Everyone cheerful and calling out 'Merry Christmas!' to one another.