We'll be enjoying a warm apple pie for tonight's dessert. That's because we decided to get out earlier to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie than we normally would, after I've finished baking and dinner preparations. And that is because rain was forecasted again for today, after the all-day rain we had yesterday and the gloomy realization that it was too cold to also contend with pouring rain so a hike through the winter woods was out for us yesterday.

Not wanting to risk a repeat, and because after breakfast it hadn't yet begun to rain, off we went. Which meant that on our return I would turn my attention to doing all the baking and cooking. I had, as it happened, already prepared the pie filling; five apples sliced into chunks, 1/2 c.sugar, 2 tbsp.cornstarch, 1/4 cup cranberry juice, cooked and thickened to which I added a half-cup raisins and a tsp. cinnamon and finally slivers of crystallized ginger.

We decided the puppies would need their boots again, since we figured that what was left of the snowpack after the rain would be thoroughly mushed and the high for the day was 2C. But the snow was not the least bit degraded, and nor was that much of it yet melted. The atmosphere was damp but the snowpack was fairly intact. The cleats over our boots sank deep into the snow however as they're meant to do, and the constant sucking effect made for extra labour in hiking along. All the more so in climbing and descent the hills.

Ascending one of the hills to the forest flats above the ravine we came cross an older couple and their two dogs we hadn't before seen in the ravine. The dogs were Portuguese water dogs, one five, the other two years old. The couple was friendly, their dogs were calm, unlike our own. The five year-old had an awkward gait and it was evident what caused it, a huge, wrap-around lipoma that spread from its belly to its right haunch.

It wasn't difficult for us to recognize the condition, since we'd been through it with Riley, our toy apricot poodle, an agonizing affair. Although the lipomas are neutral, harmless fat deposits, not cancerous, they have a tendency to grow, and to keep growing. The first one tiny Riley had was on his side, bulging and disfiguring, and we had it surgically removed when it was the size of a baseball. The second one that followed twisted his gait eventually, growing as did the one we noticed on this young dog's body. It too was removed, and we hated having to put him in surgery. Eventually it too grew back.

This couple told us they'd had a lipoma removed from their dog's belly and this is the second one, that grew back with amazing speed. They hesitated to submit the dog to another surgery and we knew exactly why. Other than the expense, that is; the pain the dog goes through, its recovery and the eventual repeat. They had a sense of humour. We discussed an animal hospital we'd both had experience with, the Alta Vista Animal Hospital, which they had renamed the Alta Visa Animal Hospital. 

We recommended they consider any further surgery they might feel is required for this poor animal to be done at a clinic just over the border into the U.S. at Ogdensburg, New York. The Town & Country Veterinary Clinic where we had Jackie and Jillie's laser neutering surgery done. The personnel are kind and devoted to the animals they serve, the clinic is efficient and clean and well-equipped. And their charges are reasonable, a fraction of the cost of the same surgery done in our own area. They'd heard of the clinic and the quality of the work they do, so we've managed to do one good thing today.

We were out for quite a while; not only does it take longer to forge through the trails in winter snow conditions but coming across the occasional acquaintance means there are times when socializing takes its toll on time, but that's part of the allure of getting out at a time when most people see themselves confined to the indoors as a result of the global pandemic. 

And it was actually wondrously beautiful today in the forest. A mist rose from the creek rushing through the ravine, creating the illusion of a colour-soft landscape. And it wasn't only along the creek where that mist rose, but elsewhere on the trail system, including the  upper spine of the forest, an atmospheric effect beyond romantic.  

Because we hadn't gone out with the puppies yesterday; a break in routine, Jackie was eager to get out today. The sentence containing the word 'out' galvanized him, his mood picked up, he began cavorting about, he communicated his intention to make the most of the opportunity once out on the trails, and so that kind of validation that our daily woodland jaunts enhance the quality of life for all of us simply is the icing on the cake of enjoying life.

And warm apple pie.