When we were out first thing this morning in the backyard with Jackie and Jillie, a huge Vee formation of Canada geese was flying overhead, we heard the resident cardinals trilling nearby, the sun was coming around into the backyard from its dawn-to-early-morning visit in the front gardens, the air was fresh, albeit also redolent with the 'aroma' of fresh natural fertilizer local farmers had dressed their fields with, the wind was calm, and we could see that it was shaping up to be another lovely day.

The weather forecast following the news dispelled that somewhat, letting us know that much colder weather, and possibly snow flurries would be moving in (although we've been getting sub-zero nighttime temperatures regardless), the wind would pick up, the blue skies would be occluded with clouds and bye-bye sun. We left the house just a little earlier than usual to tramp off to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie, while the sun still shone.

A middling-to-lengthy circuit in the ravine takes us anywhere from an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Longer on those occasions when we happen to meet up with old trail-walking acquaintances. For some reason we encountered fewer people than has become the usual, today. The 'usual' relating to people responding to the novel coronavirus lockdown by seeking out opportunities to get out and about. While we still had to side-step groups of people on the trails and we encountered numberous bicyclists, they were fewer in number than the past several weeks or so.

So often, when we do encounter other people on the trails, Jackie and Jillie are well aware of their oncoming presence long before we are; they're an early warning system. Jackie will engage in his circus act of walking upright as though he was partially bipedal, something Jillie never does. And we attribute Jackie's proficiency in 'walking' to his extraordinarily long legs, his lightweight profile and agility, as compared to Jillie's far more compact, sturdy frame.

With fewer distractions meaning we have to keep Jackie and Jillie in check, mind the distance we keep from others, today's outing meant the freedom to focus a little more closely on how the vegetation is coming along in the forest. We saw the first group of horsetails emerging from the fall leafmass. If there's any plant that doesn't excite admiration in me for its appearance, it's horsetails.
They're quite primitive and it shows. Despite that the plant had value for medieval scribes who valued it for its erasure properties, occasionally using the dried plant to scrape away scribal errors.

Looking up toward the forest canopy, trees were swaying as the wind picked up force. And though for the most part, the forest acts as protection from the wind, today a rough, impetuous wind seemed to rush right through the trails, making the atmosphere considerably cooler than we anticipated it would be. Yet there was pleasure in the sight of the canopy, as we noted a beautiful green haze evident now in reflection of the poplars beginning to leaf out.

And there, in one of the places I recall from years past where foamflower tends to colonize an area, I saw the first of the plants coming through, pioneering its presence for yet another year. Now that the first of the plants has emerged, it will be no time at all before the colony expands, and eventually begins to flower, sending out their delicate spikes of dainty flowers.

By the time we were three-quarters of our chosen route through the forest, clouds had moved in to challenge the sun. Their entry was surprisingly fast, though given the action of the wind, understandable. With the sun's absence, the cool atmosphere began to feel ever cooler, the wind more invasive.

We had veered onto a trail that takes us in a different direction than we generally opt for, where we would have to ascend and descend a number of additional hills in the landscape that makes up the ravine, one that undulates and winds and rises and descends continually. Looking up the sides of the hills there, you can see large patches of native Canadian yew shrubs populating the area.