We felt no inclination whatever to get out yesterday for our daily hike through the ravine with Jackie and Jillie in the face of unrelenting, dawn-to-dusk rain. The rain too heavy to plan on even raingear to make it feasible, particularly at the prevailing temperature which, though just a tad above freezing made for an ill-suited weather combination for a pleasant traipse through the woods. We had a nice, quiet evening, enjoyed a stir-fry dinner, snuggled up with reading material, and thought that was that.

In the wee hours of December 1st, however, Jackie was restless. So I got up and led them both downstairs. At 5:30 a.m. it wasn't completely dark out. The rain had stopped and the atmosphere seemed calm. They were both anxious to go out into the backyard and I didn't feel like accompanying them. I watched as they popped about here and there in the backyard, taking their time to sniff thoroughly about, and then they peed and ran back up the deck. They also ran right back upstairs to bed. But Jackie continued to be restless, and I believe I can attribute that to his not having gone out as usual with us for a ravine hike the day before.

This morning, once again, Irving took his truck out to get the undercarriage oiled against rust brought about with road-salting this winter. The pups take his exit from the house far better than they do mine. But in his absence they both from time to time picked up their ears, listening intently for his return. Jillie took to waiting at the back door, looking at it expectantly. When he did finally return, the truck had been done and he was carrying more items he'd bought for me; this time warm winter tights. My clothing cupboard runneth over.

 

Earlier, I had looked at my Twitter account to see what's on line, after perusing the CBC. the BBC and a few other news sites. Among the notifications awaiting my attention there was one surprising both in its brevity and its obvious message; two letters of the alphabet which could have meant 'F-un U-nending', but which I very well knew that was not the meaning it was meant to convey. The sender was a complete stranger, and I had no idea what he was objecting/referring to.

 

I responded, commiserating on both his lack of civility and low intelligence. When I looked again, his comment had been removed, but mine was still there, upbraiding him for having hidden his identity behind the purloined name of a great historical scholar/philosopher. It does make you wonder at the caliber of people who haunt social media sites. I should be grateful that his message was a rarity in my experience.

 

 

In the afternoon we dressed for a damp, windy day and Jackie and Jillie were, as the saying goes, champing at the bit. The sombre interior of the forest in the last week or so with the onset of milder temperatures that melted our beginning snowpack had been relieved by light snow flurries that descended in the early morning. There was some blue emerging overhead and the sun made the occasional popup appearance as we covered the trail system.