Weather conditions that create the phenomenon of mist and fog result in a landscape that appears ephemeral and even more beautifully entrancing than ever. And that's what we found when we were out with Jackie and Jillie in the ravine yesterday afternoon for our usual tramp through forest trails. Although earlier in the day great clumps of snow fell to initially cover the landscape with a plump layer of snow, much of it had already dropped off the branches of trees which earlier weather conditions had iced over even earlier snowfall effects.

The impromptu cemetery of slumbering bees ousted from their hive in the old pine at the foot of the first long descent into the ravine had been comforted by a thick coverlet of snow; dignity restored in an icy death.

That morning, snowfall had been followed by a period of middling-sized ice pellets, patterning the snow that had accumulated on the deck outside our breakfast room. By the time we were preparing to head out to the ravine freezing rain had arrived. That rain informed us jackets resistant to water penetration would be required for all of us.

However, since the temperature had nudged up to the freezing point, far more moderate than the day before when it was -7C with a slight, cutting wind, this was downright balmy. At 0C, we are able to ensure that Jackie and Jillie won't suffer any ill effects from rain in too-cold temperatures for their little bodies to sustain; the raincoats covered all but their tails and topknots, and they felt fairly perky, their little feet making tiny impressions in the new snow. Wet feet always tend to animate them to excited frolicking.

Freezing rain fell consistently but not heavily and we decided not to make do with a short walk but to forge on for a middling-to-longish tramp through the forest since though it was raining it was also mild, mild enough that our little dogs required no boots to shelter them from the effects of extreme cold.

The rain alters the colour shadings of winter trees, the stark, dark trunks of deciduous and the green of conifer needles in an overcast, light-diminished forest interior.

There are in fact, predominating colours in these circumstances; the aluminum-white shade of the sky, the all-consuming white of the forest floor drenched in snow, and in between the varying shades of contrasting tree trunks from dark grey/brown to black. And in the distance, the presence of fog disrupting what would otherwise be the sharp outlines of tall trees rising to meet the forest canopy and the sky.