You just cannot have everything -- at least, not all at once. There's always something to mar perfection, but we'll take whatever is on offer since in fact there's no other choice. We're back into sunny weather again. Which means the daily snowstorms are on hold, to return at a later date. So, apart from the fact that we can stop shovelling for a break in our winter routine, we can also now enjoy blue skies and a scintillatingly brilliant sun lighting up the house interior.

 

Oh, there's that little detail about clear skies and sunny days; they tend to be a whole lot colder than days of snow when the snowclouds clamp down hard on the ceiling of the world. So it's lighter, but it's also much colder. Just as well there was no wind today to top off the icy temperature.

 

The passageways in the backyard were being shovelled daily, several times through the course of a day. Which means that on either side of each path, there's a considerable snowpack. Jackie and Jillie no longer try to leap up onto that snowpack; they don't enjoy sinking deeply into it.  And they're becoming accustomed to being confined in a narrower corridor in the backyard. They are able to roam about in a far more open landscape in the forest.

Today there was no snow lashing into our faces as we hiked through the trails. The usually dim atmosphere of the forest interior was enlivened somewhat by the occasional stray bit of light gleaming through the canopy but for the most part, very little of the sun's light and warmth penetrates, held back by the shield of the forest canopy.

 

Moving right along keeps us from freezing. Irving has a furry Kulak's cap of the type worn in
Eastern Europe and he wore it today. Even when we did our grocery shopping. It always elicits comments, but he'd rather be snug and warm than 'cool'. First off this morning it was -12C, warmed up from the overnight -16C, so it felt pretty cold.

By the time we went out to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie the atmosphere had warmed nicely to -8C, and but for a few casual stops to chat briefly with friends, we kept up a steady pace. Even so by the time we arrived bak home later, our faces felt pretty pinched with cold. Cold enough to begin the process of icing over for the ravine creek. A thin layer of ice has started the process and likely by Saturday ice will have extended over the entire creek surface with openings left at the cascaded areas from rippling water.

 

We've decided that next week when the daytime highs remain at -20C, as forecast, we'll give the turns through the forest a break. It will make us feel uneasy to do that, for several consecutive days, but if it's too cold for comfort, then it's too cold to risk frostbite. Jackie and Jillie will understand.