I was skeptical and told him so. Surely, my memory couldn't be so lacking? So he couldn't possibly be right. But Max prides himself on backing up what he says, and he explained that he recalled just how unusually cold and snowy it had been last November of 2018, surpassing earlier records because he associated it with communicating with one of his cousins back in Switzerland who was undergoing serious surgery.

I would check that out, I told him. All I had to do was have a look back through my diary, because I make it a habit to record events worth recalling. I rarely use the diary for that purpose, just routinely note whatever has occurred during the course of a day and my feelings about anything worthwhile writing about. But last night when I finished my entry for the day, I remembered our conversation of several days back and riffled back through its pages to find November of last year.

And sure enough, there it was, day by day, notes about unusually large snowfalls for the season, and uniquely cold days and nights with the temperature falling to -17C. Noting as well our surprise at the severity of the weather before the introduction of winter. And this November, a very similar situation, along with our discombobulated sentiments. On the other hand, if we had been paying attention .... Environment Canada had issued notice last year that the winter-to-come would be unusually cold and snowy.

And darned if the same notice hadn't been issued this year as well, only we failed to connect them. True, we've broken some records for extreme cold and snowfalls, but by and large this year is turning out to be a repeat of last year's weather pattern. Which means we'll acquire a heavier-than-normal snowpack and trudge through days of bone-chilling cold. But it's winter, and we're Canadian, and though we love to indulge in endless complaints, we're accustomed to it all ... more or less. But those who live on floodplains will once again be inundated, their lives made a complete misery, with the approach of spring and the inevitable ice- and snow-melt.

Meanwhile, for the past several days we've had day-time highs just trembling about the freezing mark. Hard to credit, since it's also been windy and damp, so we still feel the cold when we're out and about. But out and about we go, because we should and there's huge value in it. As Jackie and Jillie can attest, since they're given the opportunity to indulge their curiosity about everything, and succumb to the never-ending allure of intriguing odours as we amble along the trails that in all likelihood tell them stories that we're oblivious to.

We enjoyed a particularly long circuit yesterday, making the most of pleasant-enough conditions though we would have appreciated the appearance of sun. Already, we can see some of the snowpack receding. On the other  hand, colder temperatures are slated to return in the next few days and that will suffice to halt the melt, and the chances of more snowfalls accelerate the closer we come to the winter calendar.

With our son alongside us on the trails for this brief period of time, there's ample to talk about, point out, discuss, from the ongoing stubborn presence of foliage left on ironwood and beech and some immature oak that simply refuse to be wrenched from their firm perches until spring. Their presence gives colour to a forest of mixed soft- and hardwood contrasting against the white landscape where tree trunks take on a dark aspect of black-on-white, with the dark burnt umber of the dried leaves appearing like bright flags of non-surrender to winter.

And the starkness of dark-on-light also plays up the presence of mosses on trunks, along with the various types of fungal fruiting bodies that give notice of the gradual transformation of once-live trees slowly degrading into eventual compost to fertilize the forest floor and encourage the growth of the biomass that makes up the composition of our beloved forests.