No one likes to be shaken out of the comfort and complacency of routine, and we're no different. How will we explain this to Jackie and Jillie? Oh well, such things have a manner of taking care of themselves. They have never been accustomed through exposure, to walking on the street. On the few occasions when we have taken them on leash along a street they've reacted predictably, curious but suspicious about all the noise and activity going on around them.

They haven't been frightened but sometimes the loud noise of traffic on a busy thoroughfare can make them somewhat concerned. They're small and lightweight enough so that when we're crossing a busy major street with traffic in both directions we can scoop them up and deposit them on the other side, reducing any concern they may have and any of ours, as well. Jackie is one of those little dogs who occasionally takes a running spurt after a moving object, and cars and buses and trucks certainly move along.

There have been occasions when I've been unprepared for a sudden pull and his leash has dropped out of my hand, startling both of us; me that he's wrenched himself free of my protective grasp, and he that the leash is in hot pursuit of his pumping little legs, threatening him with capture.

We've even on occasion, had lightweight summer harnesses snap; a broken plastic catch or a strap pulled apart and suddenly he's !free! to get into trouble. Jillie can be really stubborn at times so that if she's tugged to bring her closer to one of us she'll dig in her heels, balk, and refuse to move. They are not, obviously, particularly well-disciplined little dogs. We've never spent any time wrestling with their spontaneous reactions.

So when we approached the entrance to the ravine early this afternoon intent on  forging out on our usual ravine hike through the forest, we were surprised on the approach, to see bright orange fencing in place. As we got closer we understood the fencing had been put in place but not yet completely closing off ingress. Tomorrow is the date that access to the ravine and forest through our usual route will not be available for a week or so.

We won't be shut out of the ravine, just from access through our usual route, a short jaunt up the street from where our house is located. The alternate is to walk down the street, a distance quite a bit longer, to get to a main artery, where we turn left and walk a block to another neighbourhood ravine entrance that won't be affected by the plans to do some geological testing of the ravine's stability, although when the hillside backing onto our street collapsed two years ago spring, trees plunging into the creek at the bottom of the hill, a smaller hill close to that other entrance also saw a slide occasioned by heavy spring rains that year.

We continued on our way after the reassurance that we had another day of easy access to the ravine. Today is a sharply cold, overcast day, a high of -4C, damp feeling, and a nasty icy wind that slaps the chill of winter directly at anyone out and about. Surprisingly, it followed us into the ravine and slapped us about through the length of our circuit.

I had dreamed last night that it had begun snowing. I woke several times through the night briefly, each time opening my eyes and looking at the bedroom windows, saw the external brightness that usually means snow is falling, and felt relieved that the stark grey-and-black aspect of the landscape would finally be relieved by the presence of snow. When we arose, I fully expected to see a white landscape, and felt quite disappointed that the snow had been a figment of my imagination.

There is very little of it left in the ravine, as well as some remnants of the icy surface on the trails that kept us vigilant for the past several weeks to ensure we didn't indulge nature's sense of humour through the ungraceful execution of a prat-fall; even worse a slide resulting in a fall head-first, colliding with the frozen ground, or backward resulting in a back injury, both of which we've experienced and have no wish to re-visit.

Despite the cold, the icy wind lashing our faces and industriously attempting to infiltrate the fastness of our winter clothing, being out in the forest has few challengers for the opportunity to appreciate nature. We came across no one else this afternoon 'appreciating nature'; quite obviously the greater public's appreciation of the season has focused for the time being on obligatory holiday stress-inducing activities meant to ensure an emotional and stress-relieved culmination at the end of the month.