Jackie and Jillie can always be relied upon to bark up a storm whenever our front doorbell rings. They take their presence domiciled here as 'guard dogs' seriously. Their piercing barks are enough to bring on a headache but that's the price to pay to ensure that any unwanted intruders know their status; fair game for ferocious ear-splitting calls to the barricades.

 

A few days back Irving placed one of his regular orders for fair trade organic raw coffee beans. Today was the delivery. Every few days he hauls himself downstairs to the studio in the basement where his coffee roaster is located and gets it going, and the house is suffused with the odour of roasting coffee. Aromatic and pleasurable to coffee lovers, not so much for people who can't tolerate coffee. That's me.

 

It was one of the tastes I 'lost' 62 years ago during my first pregnancy. Up to then I had consumed coffee like any other normal person. And it's why I'm a dedicated  tea drinker now. That initial distaste for coffee during that pregnancy has only deepened since then. The smell of any kind of cooking meat made me gag back then too, but I got over that. So it's just one of those little mysteries that life is so full of. 

 

I think we've become a tad paranoid over the pandemic. I'm always urging Irving not to go out when he doesn't really, really, really have to. The fewer occasions for exposure to the virus, the better. He needed gas for the snow thrower, had to go to the bank for cash-and-carry (he doesn't like being without paper money, just reliant on credit/debit cards), wanted to pick up a Toronto Star/New York Times, and a few other items like batteries.

My pleading poodle eyes stop him in his tracks. We discuss how careful we always are when we're out and he finally agrees he'll go to the bank and get gas, but forget about the other things. When he's gone for longer than those two stops would warrant, I know he's changed his mind.It's a concern to both of us and of course to most people that case numbers are steadily increasing once again; Delta predominating for now, but Omicron fast catching  up.

Afterward we took the puppies out to the ravine.  A surprisingly mild day, the thermometer rose steadily to an afternoon high of 4C with a stiff wind, but a gloriously blue sky and full sun exposure. Unfortunately, even with the forest canopy now bare of foliage, not all that much sun filters through to the forest interior, but it is decidedly lighter than an overcast day

 

We decided at that temperature and hazarding that there would be lots of ice on the trail, Jackie and Jillie would be better off without their boots. We had cleats firmly strapped over ours.  And we needed them. Though we anticipated icy trails, we under-appreciated what the weather conditions would make of the forest floor. Both we and J&J were soon engrossed in weighing the chances of making it down the first hill into the ravine without slipping.

 

Careful attention to where our boots were being directed by our eyes picking out opportunistic areas that appeared safe, which is to say, snow-piled at the outer edges of the trails, we managed to stay upright. Striding confidently ahead was not in the books today. Once we had re-gained the upper ridge trail we were able to relax, still placing our boots judiciously but not as critically so; no longer ascending or descending.

We basked, in a sense, in the milder temperature, finally relaxing as we made our way along the ridge. In any direction the distant view of the forest canopy showed the sun lighting up the spires of both evergreens and hardwoods in bright, fiery orange shades. Getting on into late afternoon the sun preparing to set beyond the horizon.