Real January cold, not the ersatz stuff we've been experiencing of late, has returned. Last night's cold quotient was very familiar, at -20C, and this morning's -17C not that much different. It's more like what we're accustomed to, in the Ottawa Valley deep in winter.

Cold enough that the forest stream at the bottom of the ravine is once again freezing over. It will remain open in certain areas where downstream ripples and rapids keep the water rapidly moving, but the areas that gather ponds and quieter places in the stream will ice over completely if this weather continues.

When we entered the ravine this afternoon it was with the expectation that we wouldn't be warming up as we moseyed along the trails. We also wouldn't be very cold, since we dressed with enough layers to ensure cold wouldn't have the opportunity to penetrate. So it was mostly our faces that bore the brunt of a sharp wind slashing the -14C brittle cold against us.

No complaints from Jackie and Jillie, they were snug in warm sweaters, coats over top and little rubber boots. You'd think that extreme cold would have the effect of dulling olfactory sensations, but this afternoon it seemed there was even more tantalizing odours here and there than usual to attract their attention, sometimes singly, sometimes as a well-synchronized duo.

The prevailing wind had whipped whatever remained of the snow flurries that fell late yesterday afternoon off tree boughs, so that light, lilting atmosphere of trees laden with snow that comprise such a gasping visual delight was absent. It was early mid-afternoon when we were out but the forest interior was already given to dusk, colours masked in greys, blacks and white.

We decided we wouldn't constrain our little dogs' freedom, just keep them close in presence and sight. The end result of that decision was that we were continually calling them to slow down, to wait, to return to where we were, striding after them, and to continually look about to ensure there were no lurking coyotes to threaten them. Of course, it also meant we strode forward faster than is our preferred norm.

We committed to a shorter circuit than usual, reflecting the sharp, punishing wind and the cold reflecting nature's deep embrace of winter today. But unlike the last few days when Jackie's and Jillie's legs were plastered with ice and snow despite their boots, we only had to zip their boots off on return home leaving them free to immediately take up where they had left off, wrestling with one another.