The first order of business this morning was to grip shovels and clear the newfallen snow off the backyard pathways for Jackie and Jillie. They were anxious to get outside themselves. Hard to tell whether to do their morning business or to frolic in the snow. When it rains nothing will induce them to willingly head for the outside. When it snows !wow, let us out there! So as we slipped through the glass doors this morning to do the shovelling prior to letting them out, they slipped through as well.

 

And began dashing about dementedly all over the place. So much for keeping them from acquiring a thick coating of fresh snow. Irving took them back in when they had depleted their store of overnight bodily warmth from sleep, and began to feel the -4C and wind, while I stayed out shovelling. Because it just felt so good. Then he came back out and took over where I left off. Leaving me to set the table for breakfast and him to do a more thorough job of clearing the paths.

Nothing short of invigorating. Actually, for all of  us. The bracing cold, fresh air, the swinging of arms with shovels-full of snow, watching it pour in slow motion like a treasure trove of priceless gems from the shovel. It wasn't a heavy snow. Light and fluffy, about seven centimetres. The wind kept blowing it back at us, huffing and puffing with indignation that we were assuming its job.

 

Because it's Sunday, and they can smell what's on the stove, the puppies anticipated treats on top of the yogurt, kibble, honeydew and chicken they enjoyed for breakfast. Despite all that, it was the little cut-up bits of French toast and sausages they were looking forward to. Which led inevitably to a comfortable snooze for them while we took our time with our own breakfast.

 

The temperature kept dropping, the wind grew even more riotous, aggressively sweeping snow off surfaces to swish it in opaque waves here and there, doing its best to fill in the backyard walkways again. By the time we were ready to get out to the ravine for an afternoon hike, it was apparent that the intermediate-weight jackets Jackie and Jillie were wearing lately wouldn't be enough to keep the comfortable. So out came the winter-weight jackets, along with their sturdier halters. 

 

And out came the fresh batch of tiny rubber winter boots Irving had bought just a few days earlier. They'd be put to good use today.  And we'd be taking care to dress to beat the wind exacerbating the frigid air ourselves. We'd had some sunshine earlier in the day, then it became partially overcast again. We didn't get out until four because I had quite a few things to get done beforehand.

We saw few other people and dogs out this afternoon. But it was obvious that throughout the course of the day enough people from the community had come out to firm up the trails very nicely, for they were well trodden underfoot. The trees stand like dark silent sentries against the backdrop of sky and snow. The new, overnight snow ow mostly filtered off the forest canopy thanks to the wind. But at this time of day the setting sun throws its brilliant fire over the horizon, translated into puffy pink clouds adrift on a clear blue sky.

 

We were right royally entertained when a dog we've been seeing on occasion with a fetish for sticks approaching the size of logs came by yet again with a thick, snow-encrusted part of a fallen branch in his mouth. Taking up enough width on the trail that I would have been smacked with one end of the stick had I not moved aside in time. It's a scene so comical you just find your eyes glued to the dog's determination to take possession of a stick too large for its mouth, but willing to struggle mightily to possess it.

He dropped it every now and again to rest his challenged jaws, then picked it up again to resume his satisfying passage through the forest on trails littered with detritus fallen from surrounding trees at the insistence of the wind.

We move with a bit more alacrity in these icy temperatures, made all the more so when frenzied winds have joined forces with the cold. Not Jackie and Jillie necessarily, but we two certainly do. Just as well we had taken special precautions against the conditions, to ensure we would be comfortable while out in the great wild yonder. And we were.