When we were very young and lived in a community just north of Toronto in our first modest little house, Irving decided one day that he would build a little barn in the backyard. There he would house animals he was interested in. He wanted a dovecote and settled for a little barn into which he built shelving and separations, perches and cubby-holes for individual pigeons. On one side of the barn was a flight portion with perches where birds could remain outdoors but for the winter months. For pigeons is what he was interested in. On weekends we would drive to a rural country market where pigeon fanciers would gather.

There were also banty-hens, small chickens and roosters to which he also responded. We loved tohear the rooster crow in the mornings, and our neighbours never complained. And there too were to be had rabbits. We eventually acquired a Peking duck as a young duckling, and a Muscovy duck as well. The Peking duck became a responsive familiar and the Muscovy we soon discovered had a miserable temperament. Feeding and caring for the animals, cleaning up after them became a daily chore, one Irving devoted himself to in his leisure hours.

One day we bought a tiny Dutch, black-and-white rabbit and decided it would not join the others we had in the barn, but would live with us in the house. That little rabbit we named Benji. Any time I would open a shelving unit in the kitchen to extract a bread, Benji came hopping along. He loved ice cream, cheese and bread; opening the refrigerator door brought him on the hop as well. He slept under our bed, tearing up the carpeting there to suit his nesting instinct. 

In much later years, our daughter as an adult began to assemble a menagerie of animals of her own. She acquired a dog companion, then a cat, another dog, and a rabbit. She named that rabbit Benji. He hadn't the sweet temperament of our original Benji and would attack the dogs. That too is a long time ago. More recently, for the last several years, in this, our third house that we've now lived in for over 30 years, we've had a winter neighbour visit daily. He comes to visit because he knows that carrots will be put out for him. And he sits on the porch late in the day and in the evening, eating those carrots. We've named him Benji, bu dispensed with the III.

 

Unlike yesterday, today was a bit milder but not sunny. We had all-morning and afternoon snow. But in that temperature of 2C, as soon as the snow touched anything solid, it melted. Touching down on the huge winter snowpack however, it added its slight downy heft. Walking up our street with snow piled high on lawns is akin to walking through a refrigerated unit, with an icy blast radiating off the snowpack.

 

It's the same in the forest. There, the snowpack is well integrated, covering everything but the tree canopy and the creek running free at the bottom of the ravine. Because it was so mild today, when we went out with our little dogs to the forest for our usual afternoon hike, the snow was denaturizing, and the firm trails were soft and semi-slushy. Climbing uphill and descending those hills required effort in slip-backs. 

 

 

Jackie and Jillie wear their little rubber boots and will continue to, until the snowpack has melted some time next month. All the orange booties have been worn through and discarded. They're now wearing black rubber booties and they're scarcely to be noticed slipped over their tiny black paws, but they keep their paws insulated against the cold. They also keep their paws clean, requiring just a towel-wipe when we arrive back home.