What a roller-coaster of a weather-day yesterday turned out to be! On the other hand, in one sense quite typical of the unexpected in this region where temperature can turn with ease on that proverbial dime. And on the other hand, leaving us albeit puzzled, in the end quite happy with the way it all turned out.

The morning snow had suddenly turned to brief, heavy rain as the temperature rose from -3C, to 3C. We thought for certain that we'd be shut out of our daily ravine ramble. But no sooner had we resigned ourselves to a no-walk day, than out came the sun with the dispersal of the overcast. The rain stopped as suddenly as it began.

And had the afternoon been colder, the effect of the rain over newfallen snow would have been a thick icy crust threatening the balance and tenuous stability of anyone venturing into the out-of-doors. But as the moderating atmosphere continued to hold and the sun kept shining, the cleats on our boots rendered us quite comfortable, over the icy, yet penetrable surfaces we had to negotiate before reaching the forest trails.

Snow Angel

The street looks snow-barricaded. As it often does at this time of year, only perhaps a trifle more, though I can still clearly remember winters when the accumulated snowpack everywhere seemed even greater than it now is. The hills and hummocks of gathered snow humping everyone's lawns alongside their driveways are, however, quite impressive.

Since it turned out to be such a lovely afternoon, quite a few people took the opportunity to get out into the forest. The rainfall atop new snow covering the massive amount of snow we'd had a few days earlier made for a much more stable trail system yesterday. Although the snow was still deep its nature had changed from deep and fluffy-slippery to relatively firm and supportive under our boots, so traversing the trails wasn't the physical balancing challenge it seemed the day before.

We hadn't gone along very far when we came across a sight that awakened memory in us, of the years when we cared for our grandchild and taught her how delightful it was to produce 'snow angels', in deep, newfallen, light snow. There, in one of the snowbanks at the side of the trail just before the approach to the first bridge fording the creek, was a small snow angel.

During the course of our walk, Jackie and Jillie found themselves confined to an ever-narrowing trail because the ridges above were quite steep and quick to engulf them if they ventured off the trail. We watched while one of a trio of border collies three times the size of ours wallowed into the snow bank and was soon covered, and stood there helplessly, until her human encouraged her to break free of the confines of snow that covered all but her head.

The sun glinted and gleamed off the snow, and occasionally fled back under newly-arrived clouds. When it illuminates the landscape, emerging between the spires of forest trees, it's a sight to behold, absolutely bedazzling. There was still ample wind, but much kinder in this more moderate temperature; still, it had managed to dislodge quite a bit of the snow that had burdened conifers and in that process diminishing the magical aspect of the aftermath of a snowstorm that we so cherish.

We were relieved to be able to get out yesterday, given the perfect combination of sun, moderate temperature and anticipation of viewing an ever-changing landscape of transcendent natural beauty, thankful that what appeared at first to be adverse conditions making it unfeasible to manage a walk through the forest merely a temporary alteration in the day's prospects.