We were fortunate in the Ottawa area yesterday. Although we were forecasted for snow in the early afternoon on Sunday to continue through the night into Monday, no snow had materialized by the time we went to bed, and when we awoke in the morning it was to bright sunshine, not a speck of snow on the ground. Not that we would mind snow to lighten and brighten the atmosphere and present a traditional landscape for the Christmas holiday season, jollying everyone.

Just not the kind of unsettled weather that did touch down in the Toronto and Niagara region, geographically south of us. A storm that hit there first was supposed to go on to give us a weather treat, but somehow bypassed us. There were high winds, freezing rain, sleet and eventually snow events throughout the day in Toronto. Police there responded to almost 400 traffic accident calls. It's more likely for Ottawa to be on the receiving end of such weather, not Toronto, but yesterday that wasn't the case.

The storm seemed to hit a protective shield around Kingston, about an hour's drive from Ottawa, which prevented it from moving on toward our area. Winter has not yet officially begun, and it will have plenty of storms in its itinerary for 2019-20 for Ottawa, so we aren't fretting about what we've missed. On the 401 near Kingston, there was a 30-vehicle pileup, with one fatality and no doubt plenty of injuries and a lot of shaken drivers.

Driving the 401 along Lake Ontario is not for the faint-of-heart when storms strike, whether they're inundating rainbursts or snow-heavy winter storms. We've experienced ample occasions over the years of hair-raising drives in all seasons, along the 401 when visibility disappeared into an opaque-white blur and the highway challenged us with the spectre of looming doom.

We were content with the reprieve. When we went out with Jackie and Jillie in mid-afternoon yesterday to the ravine it was -7C, and somewhat windy. But no snow. And precious little left on the ground. It seemed cold because it was cold. It was tricky going, underfoot and we took care where we placed out cleated boots on the rigid ice. If there had been snow down at that temperature Jackie and Jillie would have been wearing boots.

Closing in on four o'clock the sun is already beginning to set. Very few of its warming, brilliant rays manage to penetrate the forest, once it's no longer overhead to shine down directly through the forest canopy. But at the setting angle it takes on around four, the opportunity for a bright-sun photograph is irresistible. The very same frozen pool of water on the forest floor that we'd noted a week ago was once again illuminated by the setting sun on our little hike with Jackie and Jillie.