Hard to convince us that some behaviours aren't gender-based, given what we witness daily in our household in the presence of two sibling pups, a  boy and a girl. Jackie will recklessly plow though anything, and fails to shrink from the prospect of getting wet on rainy days. Whereas his sister Jillie has obvious qualms in exposing herself to rain to the extent she prefers to shirk her natural urges rather than expose herself to (gasp!) rain, leaving us to wonder just what kind of bladder capacity she has.

There are times when we just have to tuck her under an arm to haul her outdoors, deposit her under the deck where she will be mostly sheltered from the rain, to allow her to do her thing. And all the while her brother is unconcernedly loping around here and there, fully exposed to the deluge, seemingly oblivious to any discomfort. They both know the drill, however. On entering the house after being out in the rain, proper etiquette requires that they leap onto a towel laid out on a bench alongside one wall in the breakfast room, and wait to be towelled off.

Now that's a little routine with an ironcast rule; wait your turn for the rubdown, and once that's accomplished, off you go. And while Jillie doesn't enjoy exposing herself to rain, she certainly looks forward to the rubdown; towel draped over her little form, we start with her snout and eyes, move to her ears, then her back and underside, briskly but gently, and then finishing off paws and she's good to go.

None of that was necessary today. From an overcast morning reminiscent of the dismal last few days of non-stop rain, the clouds gradually receded allowing a clear, blue sky to dominate and finally the sun to gleam its golden-orb warmth, brightening the landscape cheerily. It wasn't only we who appreciated the change; we could hear the cardinal singing lustily, to celebrate the day, perched high above on a tree nearby.

As the day warmed to a high of 6C, and the sun remained in full possession of the sky, out we went, to enter the ravine and the forest paths. The creek is running wide and full, carrying away all the snowmelt that resulted from the hillsides shedding their snowpack under the influence of the rain, and a high yesterday that soared to 10C. We are finally beginning to see the forest floor once again, a ritual we witness annually, but which never fails to impress and delight us. This year, that delight is tinged with a background of uncertainty, but we hope that will be overcome.

The bridges in the ravine fording the stream and its outlets still harbour about a foot-depth of accumulated snow-and-ice, but if this milder weather persists -- and it should since come tomorrow we greet April -- it shouldn't take long before the bridge floors are clear and alongside them, the forest floor. In the areas of the forest well above the ravine itself with its interlacing trails, far more of the exposed forest floor is evident.

Below, in the ravine itself, aside from the hillsides which are beginning to evict layers of seasonal snow, ample, thick ice remains. Most of the trails remain thickly slathered with ice. But the ice has softened, has lost its sharp, slippery edge and our cleats ensure we remain upright. Not so for those not equipped with cleats, who slither and slide over the hillsides' ascents and descents.

But they are mostly young people, the few that deign to spend a few hours of quality time with nature, and to them the situation is more of a thrill, a challenge to remain upright, than a threat of potential broken bones. We came across a pair of young people today, happy to be out, accompanying two large dogs. They enter on occasion with the family dog as an opportunity to romp through a natural setting, but in nowhere near the numbers of older people who tend to make the forest a sometimes-destination.

The shrinking snowpack has released all manner of odours we can only guess at, but all of which Jackie and Jillie are skilled at interpreting. Noses flat to the ground, they tend to behave as though they're tracking game, or the presence of some delectable edible prize. Some of the 'prizes' are tiny bits of woodland detritus fallen from trees, others of questionable derivation, impelling us to keep a sharp eye on what they're doing, and occasionally tugging their leashes when the occasion demands to convey the message that any such questionable object is to be discarded...

After two full days of being shut out of the ravine, it was a decided relief for all of us to be out and about. All the more so that other avenues of getting out have been shuttered for the time being, with the exception of utter necessities. Tuesday is our usual grocery shopping day. But we've decided to wait and hold off for next week and shop then. Simply because last week's shopping had been an extraordinarily large one, and we'd managed to bring home more than what we'd need for a week. We've ample fresh vegetables left, and enough fruit to do us until then, not to mention other types of whole foods.

We'll have a roasted acorn squash tonight to accompany a noodle-cheese-green pea casserole. And leftover banana cake for dessert. I never make up a list when we go shopping. Now, however, I've begun a list of food items that shouldn't be forgotten when next we shop, since shopping has become one of those 'rare' occasions to supplement whatever is in the freezer or dry non-perishables in the pastry....