All the times we've seen our little wild rabbit neighbour sitting on the porch nibbling away at peanuts, we've never yet seen him carry off the carrots Irving puts out for him to his den, wherever that is now. We thought we had located his winter den, secure in a snow-tunnel he had dug with a back and a front reversible entry-exit under one of our elderly yew trees in the garden. He may have kept that little hideaway in front of the house, but Irving is convinced he's made himself another, more isolated one, in our rock garden that runs along the left-hand-side of the house.

Invariably the little fellow ignores the carrots, evincing far more interest in the peanuts when no squirrels are around in the evening, but eventually all the carrots disappear and we assume they end up safely stored in the rabbit's winter pantry.

The first thing Jackie and Jillie do when they come downstairs first thing in the morning, is to go directly to the front door to peer out at whoever might be there, scooping up peanuts. Sometimes they'll bark at the presence of squirrels, and sometimes they won't. There is one little black squirrel whose presence on the porch trigger's Jackie's indignation. I'm of the opinion that it's the little black squirrel that has a tendency to chase off the other squirrels, even the red squirrels who most often tend to be more aggressive than their black cousins.

The two grey squirrels that come along regularly, and usually together, also have a sharing problem; each in turn will take to chasing the other away. It's hard to reconcile this kind of behaviour with the fact that they're moderately gregarious creatures and there's never any scarcity of peanuts. But they're so hard-wired by nature's survival imperative through territoriality that it tends to kick in regardless with some of these little animals.

We had some early morning flurries, and though the temperature was mild at -4C, there was a nasty wind. Even when the sun came out for hours in the afternoon, the wind still wreaked its penetrating icy misery. By the time we left for our ravine walk clouds had moved back in and the wind continued to sweep the newfallen snow everywhere. At least it has now covered the icy hump we have to negotiate  to access the trail to the ravine so it's easier to enter.

Our street remains an utter mess of snow and ice. It's actually more difficult to toddle up the street with Jackie and Jillie to access the forest trails, than it is striding along the trails that have been well tamped down since our last snowfall several days earlier. Earlier in the week the creek had frozen over again. We'd seen where big dogs have gone down the creek banks looking for open water, their paws leaving patterns on the snow over the ice covering the creek, and the ice hard enough to sustain the weight of a large dog.

Today, the creek is mostly open again, snow and ice melted. And as usual, when the weather has turned mild again and the creek is running freely, there were robins, a small flock of them dispersed along the creek runway, swooping down and around, landing at the edge of the creek, dipping their beaks into the water. And we wonder if they're getting live insects, even in that cold current. Caddis-fly larvae?

We came across a few other people out with their dogs so Jackie and Jillie enjoyed a few encounters. And twice, dogs we know just suddenly appeared, dashing toward us and squatting expectantly beside Irving. Cookie-man never disappoints them. And then when he tells them they've had enough, we watch as they scoot off to rejoin their humans, for as far as we can see which trail they choose and how long we can watch them before they disappear.

 

It's encouraging for a change to see ordinary people all over the civilized world protesting, finding an event so outrageously cruel and vicious that they feel motivated to gather in their thousands to express their outrage over a belligerent country invading a neighbour to satisfy the sinister aspirations of its tyrannical president to enlarge his own country's already-giant footprint on the globe. There is always some issue, large and small, to infuse people with anger over some kind of perceived injustice.

 

This injustice, where an egocentric strongman feels entitled to violently disabuse a neighbour of its intention to align itself with the democratic principles of the West, certainly qualifies as a monumental injustice and an assault of huge proportions against a neighbour's right to determine its own destiny, one that its population is profoundly invested in. 

Anger is manifest in the reports of reactions from Russia's near neighbours -- with the exception of some like Belarus and Chechnya where Russian puppet leaders are installed to ensure their close collaboration with Moscow -- at the bald intention of Vladimir Putin to recapture into its political orbit former eastern European countries that had been vassal states of the USSR, until its dissolution and their subsequent freedom. They now see themselves threatened anew in the violent assault on Ukraine which refused to bow to a tyrant's edict.

What is happening to ordinary Ukrainian civilians, men, women and children of all ages exposed now as close to the spectre of death as possible through shelling, artillery and bombing making hell of their lives serves to concentrate the mind of those living in far distant lands, on how fortunate they are to live in democratically-governed nations, however flawed they may be.

In the vast geography of Ukraine today, under fire and fear, people grieve for their freedom. Many flee to bordering countries for haven, many more will not leave their homes and have decided to take up the government's offer, accepting firearms to be used in self-defence and defence of the nation.

 

Here, in our corner of the world, we feel a deep upset at the situation so far from us, in Canada. And thoughts go to Ukrainian-Canadians and the uncertainty and concerns they now live with in worries about their native land and distanced family members and friends. Outside Ukraine itself, Canada through immigration, has the third-largest ethnic Ukrainian population in the world with Canadian citizenship.

 

In our corner of the world, the morning shone bright for a winter day in February. The atmosphere was calm and the sun lit up and warmed the air, hinting at spring's eventual arrival. It was -16C, windless and sunny, hinting at as beautiful day as we enjoyed yesterday. But by the time we left the house in  mid-afternoon, though the temperature had climbed to -6C, the wind had returned and the sun had retired.

 

We had, despite that, an enjoyable turn in the ravine. The temperature is set to plunge again this coming night to -21C, and at some time during the day tomorrow another snowstorm is expected, though not a large one. But it will be accompanied by fierce winds that will offer white-outs. It's been a quite cold February, this year of 2022, with a considerable amount of snow mounding the landscape.

 

In history, however, this year will be known as one of infamy, when the Russian Federal Assembly green-lighted their president's ambition to invade Ukraine under the pretext of saving it from the tentacles of 'terrorists', 'neo-nazis', and 'fascists'. And to return Ukraine and its people, to the warm bosom of the Russian Federation. The process involved creating millions of homeless and refugees, and taking the lives of innocent people who just wanted to live as proud and free citizens of Ukraine.

 

 

 

 

We weren't surprised that it was snowing this morning, only at the amount that came down. Irving was out shovelling when the snowstorm was about halfway through to plow clear pathways for Jackie and Jillie. They love snow, but on their own terms. Which is to say, when they feel like cavorting about in it, not when they're performing morning ablutions and evacuations. 

The snow was welcome, to cover the ice that had formed when several days earlier we had freezing rain and ice pellets come down. And then the following day, a clear sky, when even at -10C, the heat of the sun melted the ice on the canopy and as it drizzled down, it covered the patio doors with icicles plastered on the glass.

The snow filling up the porch didn't deter the squirrels. They came about anyway, covered with falling snow, and dug out the peanuts on the porch floor. Giving Jackie his morning entertainment. Watching their little dramas; some squirrels willing to share space with others, while the occasional squirrel, offended by the presence of others, chased them away and claimed ownership of all it surveyed.

We took our time over breakfast. More or less fixated on the news, somewhat more anxiously than usual, given the sinister ploy of Russian President Vladimir Putin to enlarge the already-largest geographic territory on the planet by accessorizing it with the violent capture of the second largest geography in Europe, Ukraine, a country which he characterized as 'racist' and 'fascist'; his duty to expunge its sovereign status to eradicate 'terrorists' from European soil.

Once we did finally tear ourselves away from news sources and exhausted our opinion of these dreadful events and the individual driving them, in the process creating desperate refugees who manage to escape Russia's military assault, bombing government infrastructure and killing any who oppose him, as well as unfortunates who get in the way of the missiles he has ordered to be launched against a sovereign nation.

Kneading bread dough helped a little to burn off indignant frustration, but its calming effect led me to mixing up a batch of giant coconut-lime cupcakes. Irving obligingly squeezed the lime for me for its juice, after I had fine-grated its exterior. Cupcakes are so easy to put together, and since I always use cake-and-pasty flour for little cakes, they come out moist and fluffy-light. 

I fiddled about so much during the afternoon with all manner of little chores that by the time we launched ourselves into the great outdoors for a tramp through the ravine with Jackie and Jillie it was getting on to the nether regions of the day. But what a sight awaited us. Again, expected after a snowstorm, but so aesthetically beguiling a wonderland it presents, it never fails to fascinate and uplift at the wonders nature creates.

The snow was thick, but also light. It also both helped and hindered locomotion. The flattened trails courtesy of the previous freezing rain has turned into a jumble of imprinted hills and valleys, but on the other hand, though it requires slightly more effort to get along through a thick layer of newfallen snow,  the icy element is no longer a threat to remaining upright.

The appearance of fresh new snow is a draw to many people in the community. And so, unlike the previous days, we came across people we're familiar with, and everyone was more than pleased with the landscape's brilliant appearance, with more scintillating white to be seen than the forest trees heaped high and dense with the snow.

Cold as it is, at -12C down in the ravine, it is mitigated today by the absence of wind and the presence of sun. The sun, at a far different angle in the sky now, higher and sticking around longer into the late afternoon, is warmer, enough so that even at that temperature it has been melting the snow and ice on the canopy over our deck. There's a steady drip-drip and a corresponding buildup of ice on the floor of the deck from the dripping sides of the canopy.

We really quite enjoyed last night's stir-fry. It was colourful and fragrant and tasted just right. The sticky rice we use is Irving's favourite, as close to the rice we ate while we lived in Japan as we can get, here in Canada. Grown not in Asia, but in California. It absorbs the cooking juices from the vegetables very nicely. And the few pieces of beef that were left over went down very nicely with Jackie and Jillie.

Last night I crept up carefully to the front door to get a closer look at the rabbit. He's been back and forth repeatedly to retrieve his carrots. Yesterday Irving shooed away a cat that had been lingering on the porch in the afternoon. The squirrels are most about in the morning hours and early afternoon, as are the birds. We'd prefer not to have a cat feel comfortable around the house.

Last evening, the rabbit must have caught an awareness of some movement because for the first time I watched as he positioned himself on his back legs and stood upright, sniffing and looking about. Not in my direction, but outside and beyond the porch. Until he was satisfied there was no one about that could spell danger, and he directed his attention toward the peanuts again. Later yet in the evening when we were on our way upstairs to bed, I found Jillie sitting quietly at the door, watching the rabbit.

The blasting wind of the last few days was absent today. As was the sky crowded with silver clouds. Blue skies and a very present sun always reflects the fact that we'll be in a bitterly cold temperature. It did warm up to -10C, which while not mild, was moderated by no wind and lots of sun. It's always a few degrees colder down in the ravine, so we dressed for it.

The footing was similar to yesterday's albeit a little firmer in some places. Unlike yesterday when there was no one else about while we were out, we came across a handful of people enjoying the winter day with full sun penetrating the forest canopy here and there. We also came across quite a few dogs who have familiarized themselves with the  presence of a cookie man whose presence they're alerted to when they hear two little dogs barking hysterically off in the distance.

Those barks are the signal that the cookie man is nearby and the dogs tend to arrive long before their humans do. Some of them are patient, and just sit primly beside Irving while he fumbles about to withdraw his cookie bag, and others frenetically leap about, insisting they Must.Have.A.Cookie.Instantly. Irving accommodates. Some dogs must think they've hit the jackpot if they come across us more than once which happens occasionally on the intermeshing trails.

We enjoyed a treat ourselves, seeing the return of the robins from wherever it is they sequestre themselves for days at a time when the weather is really raw. They were out in full number this afternoon, flying cheerily over, about and into the creek running at the bottom of the ravine, and now fully opened again.

The group mailbox for the street sits beside the entrance to the ravine. The platform for the group mailbox is always cleared of snow by a contractor after a storm. As is the street itself, by the municipality. Over time, the path leading to the ravine becomes a little trickier to access as the snowpile begins to form a barrier of some height. Nothing deters people from gradually forming a break in the growing berm by trampling the snow, but it too reflects the amount of snow that has collected, and as it becomes larger it also becomes more difficult to surmount it.

I'm fairly short; age has diminished my former 5' height slightly. It's a sharp bump I've got to negotiate to access the path, not a gradual little 'hill' and I've managed up to the present. By carefully positioning my cleat-strapped boots and heaving myself to a balance on right foot, swinging over the left foot to gain the top and clearing the obstacle. But we found, this afternoon, not unexpectedly, that the barrier overnight also had become firmly icy.

It's that kind of weather day. Yesterday the wind howled mercilessly through the atmosphere. There was freezing rain for a typical winter sleetstorm, and there was also alternate tiny balls of ice slung through the atmosphere. Unhatted, out in the backyard with Jackie and Jillie, I could feel each of those little ice balls hitting my hair, slipping with effortless force through my hair onto my scalp. The ice built up a pebbly surface on our pathways; icy but not slippery.

Today, the street outside the  house and our driveway are completely ice-covered. The ice covering layers of snow and ice almost semi-permanent during the winter months. The driveway wasn't too slippery, but the road certainly was. Still, we were all wearing boots and we had our cleats strapped over our boots. 

It was -9C, overcast, with occasional brief sunny intervals while we were out, and the wind lashed our faces as we strode up the street toward the ravine. When we reached the berm, Jackie and Jillie had no problem dashing through the steep dip, but it was covered in ice thickly solid, a layer of glare ice. Irving made it neatly over and turned to haul me through, stabilizing me with his firm grip. Once we were into the forest, the trails, though steeped in that granular ice, lacked the firm solidity of the area outside the forest.

 There, our cleats had no trouble biting into the pebbly ice surface and our descent into the ravine was accomplished with little effort. Off leash once we enter the ravine, Jackie and Jillie were ecstatic to be out and freely roaming about with us. The effect of the wind was instantly reduced, and the environment was serenely restful. Cold, but tolerable.

Occasionally, the sun decided to briefly interrupt the cloud cover to shimmer through the forest canopy but without the intention to remain for very long. It had dominated the sky earlier in the day, and now had receded. When it did emerge, trees that retained a covering of ice gleamed and glittered in the rays of the sun.

The trails that have for the past week been pitted with frozen boot prints, little depressions and irritating bumps, have now been completely smoothed over. The freezing rain of yesterday and following ice pellets had filled everything in perfectly, producing a completely smoothed-over surface. But it came with a cost to the forest. Here and there, the trails were littered with cast-off groups of pine needles, twigs and branches that had been released from the trees.

Reflecting the stress the forest experienced, first harbouring a heavy layer of ice over the snow already in place from the last storm last week, and then tormented by the blustering wind that accompanied yesterday's ice-event. It was all quite wonderful for Jackie and Jillie; right before them an unusual choice selection of eminently chewable twigs and evidently tasty pieces of bark and they made the most of it. As though the cookies that Irving doles out for them aren't enough to satisfy.

Following which, when we returned home, they clamoured for their usual little afternoon snack of chopped up fresh vegetables. And then I turned my attention to chopping up more vegetables; snow peas, red bell pepper, mushrooms and broccoli in anticipation of a dinner stir-fry for tonight. Before we had left for our  hike, I had sliced up beef into small pieces and made a marinade of garlic, wine vinegar, soya sauce and olive oil for it to steep in, in the refrigerator. And then I opened a new bag of Kokuho Rose rice to steam along with the vegetables.

 

Yesterday was an iteration of Canada's newest public holiday, 'Family Day', when Parliamentary lawmakers sought to give Canadians a bit of a break for February, the winter month without a day to celebrate and feel free from labour and the usual. As a result most retail establishments were closed. We had a long weekend. The two papers, one local the other national we subscribe to, didn't publish. We thought briefly of skipping our usual Tuesday food shopping day, and go out on Wednesday instead of today. Good thought, but we failed to follow it through.

Consequently, because no one was able to do their grocery shopping on Monday, those who usually do, doubled up on Tuesday shoppers and the store we shop at, normally quiet with very few shoppers on an early Tuesday morning, was full of people gathering their groceries. Since the shelves were full as well, we had little to complain about. Everyone was masked and polite, but we've become accustomed to distancing and being in a situation where it becomes a bit of a problem is disconcerting.

We had a fine ravine hike yesterday afternoon with Jackie and Jillie and it's just as well we did, since although the temperature hovered around -5C all day, we had freezing rain and ice pellets today. The pellets coming down so hard plummeting from above each could be felt instantly hitting your scalp after tunneling through your hair. Jackie and Jillie weren't impressed. And so, we've got ice underfoot again. And since the freezing rain was fairly liquid, it meant bypassing a hike through the forest today.

 Although yesterday was house-cleaning day I was still able to indulge a bit for dinner, preparing a Cornish game hen, a Lokshin Kugel, (egg-noodle pudding with pepper and raisins; it works well, believe me!) green beans and sliced kiwis for dessert. That's something that Jackie and Jillie do appreciate. Since of course we can't have something that they don't also get to enjoy,

And today being another leisure day, I've put together another casserole with pasta, cheese sauce, green peas, chopped green onions and tinned pink salmon topped with Panko and grated Parmesan for dinner. Fresh raspberries from Mexico were on sale and they'll make for our dessert.

When we were out hiking yesterday we came across a young man walking two puppies. One, a Maltese/Yorkie/Chihuahua mix, the other a six-month-old American Golden Retriever, because, he said to us, his wife would only agree to their adopting a 'hunting dog' (for him) if she could have a 'lap dog' for herself. The puppies were both beautiful, absolutely adorable, and happily excited as only puppies can be. The tiny lap dog was a fraction of the size of Jackie and Jillie, and totally unafraid of anything, skipping about everywhere like a little grasshopper.

Late this afternoon when I was putting together the casserole for dinner, I was clumsy when I dumped the cooked pasta into a strainer to drain, and part of the pasta tipped over onto the floor beside the sink. Instantly, Jackie and Jillie were beside me, commiserating over the mess I'd made as I cursed myself. But would  you think these two otherwise-ravenous little kitchen helpers would hunt down every last slippery, difficult-to-pick-up piece of pasta to spare me the trouble of plucking the pieces up and into the compost pail? Not a chance!

I can still remember verbal fireworks being exchanged between John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson in the House of Commons from my perch above a sitting of Parliament in the visitors' gallery. I was thrilled to be there, witness to what must have been a quite ordinary day in government affairs. And I was watching several giants in Canadian politics exchange political-ideological barbs, contesting one another in public opinion, eager to score voting points. Nothing much has changed in that arena.

Canada still has the two major parties -- Conservative and Liberal -- playing musical chairs in Parliament; one ascendant, the other struggling to unseat them. So far, Liberals have been the government more frequently than have Conservatives. It's the way Canada votes by and large and certainly the way Quebec votes. Historically the Quebec vote has made the final determination on election night.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was one prime minister that Canadians either loathed or admired. It was he who 'brought home' the constitution and it was with him that Queen Elizabeth II signed the Proclamation of the Constitution Act granting sovereignty and handing it over from Britain to Canada, bringing into law the Canadian  Charter of Rights and Freedoms, sacrosanct under the constitution. We were there, in the crowd, witnessing that historic moment on the lawn of Parliament Hill. 

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Canada 'came of age' as it were, fighting alongside Great Britain in the Second World War -- as part of the British Empire, with the Allied Forces against Nazi Germany and its Axis partners -- and when the constitution was 'brought home'. So much so good, Pierre, but he also alienated Canada's Western Provinces, the oil-and-energy-producing workhorses that contributed hugely to Canada's development  and wealth through the National Energy Program by taking control of a provincial natural resource.

Now, 40 years later, his son has not only been hostile to energy production in Canada, but his duplicity and high-handedness has been responsible for renewing a spirit of separation between Alberta and to a lesser degree Saskatchewan, and the rest of Canada. Portraying himself as a champion of middle-Canada, of women and LGBTQ-2 rights, an anti-racist and a globalist, he has charged Canada with being a racist country. 

A previous Conservative-led government under Brian Mulroney was detested by a large proportion of the electorate. But the Mulroney government alerted the world to the deleterious effects of acid rain, launched a public relations battle against Apartheid, signed a world-class agreement with the U.S. and Mexico to produce the North American Free Trade Agreement, all to the good for Canada. In contrast, another Liberal government led by Jean Chretien elevated corrupt entitlement for the Liberals and for Quebec to a fine art. When the turn came for another Conservative government, Stephen Harper who united two conservative movements into the Conservative Party of Canada, brought the West back into the fold, and raised Canada's international reputation under a well-governed nation, resolutely steadfast, prosperous and forward-looking.

And then came Justin Trudeau, who began teaching drama lessons to Canadians by posturing as a cheerful optimist with a penchant for 'dressing up', for challenging ethical boundaries, for claiming special entitlements for himself and his family, while stretching the boundaries of political ethics as he manipulated the Canadian economy and went on record alienating the West by yanking the energy industry out from under Canada's future.

And then SARS-CoV-2 arrived and with it a government that scarcely knew how to respond, other than to align itself with the omniverous beast that China had become, playing all the wrong cards for Canada. This is a man with utter contempt for Canada's Parliamentary system, and for Canadians in general who find fault with his style of governing, and his very personal style of exhibitionism. But Canada is still a democracy and Canadians -- given the opportunity to throw Justin Trudeau and his party out of power chose instead, despite innumerable scandals he brought upon himself with his questionable ethics and record of disgraceful behavioural choices -- deigned to extend his mandate to govern another term, albeit in a minority position.

Which hasn't impaired his agenda one iota to transform Canada into a 'woke' aggressively progressive trans-national state. Canadians across the country have begun to chafe and rebel against his dictatorial tendencies, forcing mandates upon the country that common sense and realities of situation do not support, influencing peoples' lives in a continually negative manner. His response to the perfectly legitimate complaints of those suffering unemployment and a reduced quality of life thanks to his decision-making is to characterize them as 'racists' misogynists, homophobes, fascists and all-out louts and thugs. Those who disagree with his edicts are 'unCanadian', contemptible creatures he will not speak with since they're beneath his notice. 

Toronto mounted police unit disperses protesters in Ottawa, Friday, 18 February ... Justin Tang, The Canadian Press, via AP

This paragon of self-virtue, manipulator of the public weal, despiser of Canadian values and choices has done great harm to the country, which desperately needs him to permanently absent himself from its government.

Oh, and Jackie and Jillie had a most enjoyable trip through the forest trails this afternoon of a moderate winter day of 0C, wind and heavy overcast.

The rabbit came by last night, seating himself on the porch for quite a while, nibbling on peanuts, ignoring the rabbit pellets and the carrots. Just like people, animals have their preferences. We've had the rabbit pellets out long enough to gain the indelible impression they'll sit there forever and eventually rot because no one is interested in them. So Irving took away the container and tossed it all in the compost. 

This morning Irving hauled out his extendable roof rake to clear the snow off the canopy over the deck. The wild wind had actually done a fairly good job of clearing off the snow on two sides of the canopy reflecting the direction of its bellowing, but two other sides were piled high, and since there is more snow in the forecast, it was best not to see what would happen if the canopy got weighed down with more than it could carry. Although it's a metal roof, there's a limit to its structural soundness under the threat of an abundance of snow. All the more so since there may be an intermission of freezing rain to hardpack the existing snow, then more falling over that.

Early morning news was that the combination of municipal police, the OPP, police from other jurisdictions and the RCMP have finally made something in the order of 190 arrests of protesters who adamantly refuse to leave Ottawa's downtown core. A number of big rigs had been moved out yesterday, many of them having been towed away. 

Some protesters are being charged with violently opposing the police. One man threw a bicycle at a horse belonging to a Toronto mounted detachment, and he was charged with attempted injury of a service animal. People hanging around the periphery of the Parliamentary Precinct -- now fenced off, seemingly trying to outwait the police in the hope they would soon disperse with the satisfaction of having done what they were tasked to accomplish, enabling the protesters to move back in -- were summarily arrested.

I remember how shocking it felt to see photographs of police and workmen in Washington erecting tall fences around the Washington Capitol, and thinking, so much for a free and self-respecting country. And now, here we are, our own Parliament buildings closed in with similar fencing and for a similar purpose. While Washington's January 6 event breached the building interior, that didn't happen here; the protesters who loathe Trudeau have ample company nation-wide, but had no intention of breaking into Parliament. There are no lawmakers there, in any event for the time being.

Canada has a prime minister who fostered a self-image of tolerance, equality and full progressive credentials, and loved to portray himself internationally as a much-respected, admired liberal feminist and champion of the underdog. He is in fact, anything but, and a sense of entitled autocracy is what he actually projects. He enjoyed chastising other world leaders, like India's Modi, Russia's Putin, Israel's Bennett, to have more patience, to listen to their people emotively and conscientiously. Something he would never himself stoop to; quite beneath his dignity to exchange civil words with anyone who happens to disagree with him.

As for us, it's been a very good weather day; heavily overcast, windy, but no extremes today. At breakfast time it was -12C but by afternoon  we were looking at -3C, and that's when Jackie and Jillie took us out for an afternoon hike through the ravine. The trails in the forest were much improved over yesterday, and the wind, though robust, was nowhere near as aggressive as yesterday's.