Our early morning food shopping done with, we returned to our anxiety-ridden little dogs for all of us to enjoy breakfast together. And then it was quick work to clean up and get out into the ravine to enjoy this beautiful day we were presented with, as a kindly gesture from nature. A crisp, cold day, the sky a veritable ocean of blue stretching as far as the eye can see, and floating across it the good ship that illuminates our days and is the source of life on Planet Earth.

Barely any wind, so the -4C temperature was beyond pleasant as we set off, Jackie and Jillie geared in winter coats and boots. The ice that glazed the street in front of the house yesterday has melted, under the irresistible influence of the sun. In the ravine, the trails are thick with ice and snow. Despite yesterday's wind much of the snow that fell overnight the night before remains on the trees, well plastered in elegant white.

Without our boots well cleated for the ice it would be quite the trick to manoeuvre without slipping and ultimately falling, but that wasn't our concern since from this time forward we'll be wearing cleats while tramping through the trails. And we don't have to be concerned over our puppies' discomfort when the temperature is this low and the ground is ice-and-snow covered. They're perfectly happy wearing the boots tripping along nicely, and we're spared the necessity to pick them up to warm icy little paws.

Never is snow blanketing the woods more welcome than in late November when the landscape looks dull and sere. Everything is completely changed, from visual perspective to gratification with the exquisite beauty of our familiar landscape which familiar though it may be, offers various facets and aesthetic nuances for appreciation reflecting every type of weather condition and measure of the seasons.

The sun at its approaching-winter angle is blindingly magnificent. Yesterday had been overcast, but when we were wending our way back up the last long hill to street level, just before setting the sun broke clear of the clouds for a few minutes and set the forest canopy where it illuminated the trees, sparked in fabulous red tones of glimmering fire.

This afternoon the sun's rays reflected directly on the trees. Networks of bare branches, still holding a portion of the snow they had been bedecked with, but beginning to melt under the intense light and heat of the sun, looked as though they were being decorated with a myriad of stars; droplets from melted snow crystallizing, catching the sun and sparkling like priceless jewels.

Soon after returning home we left again for a drive downtown to stop in at a shop that supplies my husband with stained glass, lead and all the other materials he requires when putting together a window. The sun owned the sky completely. And it dominated the landscape both above and below, as it glimmered and glanced off the Ottawa River.