The week of moderating temperatures, while representing a relief from the cold, also had the effect of melting accumulated snow, which isn't so wonderful, since it leaves a messy morass of muck in its wake. It makes trudging through what's left of the snowpack a real drag -- literally -- even as it creates icy conditions. So we were more than a little pleased when we woke yesterday morning to gently falling snow.

We thought this would be a brief snowfall interlude, but it lasted throughout the entire day, even into the evening hours, before finally coming to an end. The snowfall was light at times and at other times snow fell in thick clusters, even though the temperature remained mild, with 2C being the high for the day. The good thing was that it left a layer of snow over the diminishing snowpack. And the temperature was slowly falling.

We found, when we descended from street level into the ravine, that the turbid, high water level of the creek while still rushing rapidly downstream, was reduced in volume though not in particulate matter in comparison to the previous day. It was as dark yesterday as it had appeared the day before. Even so, at the pool beside the last of the bridges we could make out the orange forms of the goldfish, now considered permanent residents, by us.

And though the forest magic wasn't quite completely restored to the winter wonderland we had taken so much pleasure in just days earlier after a bigger snowstorm had transformed the landscape, and milder weather had since blown in to melt most of it off the trees, enough of an accumulation had resulted yesterday to deeply dust the trees to produce once again a milder vision of the winter landscape we associate with this time of year.

Jackie and Jillie were wearing their boots again, but we still dressed ourselves a little lighter in view of the 2C high for the day even while puzzling that we were getting snow at temperatures above freezing,while a week ago the reverse had occurred when we had copious rain during temperatures well below freezing.

As far as Jackie and Jillie are concerned what puzzles us is totally irrelevant to their enjoyment of a snowy forest. Jackie dashed here and there, anxious not to miss any 'messages' left behind by other dogs doing their own daily circuit through the forest. Jillie's pace can never rival that of her brother's, except when she's confronted with the presence of other dogs unfamiliar to her and she thinks she can intimidate them with her obnoxious barks of forest stewardship.

The wind was light and unobtrusive, disinterested in probing beneath our jackets, much less whirling falling snow into our faces which it is most often intent on when the presence of the two combine. There was no chance whatever that the sun might find a crevice between the low cloud cover to winkle its way through to a short-lived smiley-face over the landscape.