In childhood new-fallen snow is a wonder, a magical trick courtesy of nature and it means playtime!! in spades. When children grow older another meaning attaches to snowfalls; when they're really heavy and have left behind a sizeable deposit on the ground, snow-days are called and that means a holiday, a day off from school. What combination could beat that? not only snow to revel in, but time to do it, when school isn't mandatory but playtime is.

When we're adults snow has a number of meanings attached to its presence; for most employed people it means a longer commute to work, and the need to shovel, neither guaranteed to bring smiles to anyone's face. On the other hand, new snow beckons skiers, snow-boarders, and anyone who wants to strap on snowshoes along with those committed to their outdoor walks in any weather, particularly when they're privileged to live close by an urban forest.

Pet owners are conscious of their obligation to their companion pets needing to be out for some exercise and other less mentionable activities, and the dogs themselves go a trifle berserk with joy as soon as they feel the fluff of cold snow underfoot. They have no need to arrive on time at a workplace or to shovel out a driveway beset with snow, it's all play, all the time.

When we're out in the ravine daily hiking through the forest trails with Jackie and Jillie we come across all sorts of people, all breeds of dogs, and though they aren't really representative of the general population since forest-hiking aficionados represents a very small proportion of society, they're still a diverse lot with one thing in common; an appreciation of natural surroundings.

The night before yesterday we had another snowfall to add to the 300+cm we've already received this winter, and in this climate and this region winter is a long way from completing its annual presence. Overnight another 7.5 cm of snow fell, not a large amount but significant enough to require shovelling, while on the good-news side, it covered the thick accumulated ice on driveways and roads.

Mind, it did once again make traversing the forest trails a little more challenging, adding depth and a cluster-effect that tricks boots into slipping and sliding, but it also decked out the trees nicely in a new coating of white fluff, to enrapture the eye. The day was heavily overcast, and a few light flurries fell now and again. The high reached a very acceptable 2C, though the gusting wind did its best to diminish the feeling of relative warmth.

Jackie and Jillie saw no other dogs out, and none of the usual people that we often see on the trails were about at the time that we were. But along came a tall, lean man on snowshoes; unremarkable in itself other than for the fact that the way he locomoted with them resulted in each step wafting a considerable wave of loose snow behind him to hit his lower body, so he was well snow-covered in back from the waist downward. In our experience with snowshoes such never occurred and when we'd snowshoed it was in areas in wilderness preserves that required snowshoes to get about.

And then along came a young bearded man on a bicycle with balloon tires. We were aware of his presence well before he appeared, having heard the repeated sound of bicycle brakes, squealing through the atmosphere. He passed us several times as we negotiated the trails; swooshing downhill in a fury of motion, then walking his bicycle uphill through the snow to attain the high plateaus. Jackie and Jillie were somewhat puzzled, but found it great fun to run after the fellow on the bike, necessitating our calling them back repeatedly.

One thing; assuredly a good time was had by all.