With the change back to standard time once again, leaving the accursed Daylight Saving Time behind for another year, and the natural change of the Earth on our side of the globe tilting back to face the sun, the days seem longer, with more natural light and that's a decided plus. Now that March is coming to a close, we're eager to see more signs of approaching spring. There's a reason why we think of March as the cruelest month, simply because it is. March is when winter refuses to leave and when spring waits in the wings for her opportunity to appear.

Because winter is so recalcitrant in that month and spring so polite, waiting for her opening really tests our patience. But it is Nature that is control here, not puny humans, and so we wait. The occasional snowy morning elicits our groans even while the resulting snow won't last, melting as the day begins to warm, even in the single digits above freezing. The days when snow flurries alternate with freezing rain and rain itself can drive us to distraction, even when the polarized events signal the end of winter and start of spring.

Today we had sun, and the temperature by afternoon rose to 8C, although it had plunged overnight the night before to -12C. There was wind, there's always wind to make the prevailing temperature feel much colder, particularly when we venture into the ravine. In the forest the trails were much improved from only a week earlier when the hillside trails were coated in thick, glaring ice, while the flat areas were steeped, where the sun reached them during the day, in the melting snowpack.

Our cleats do a good job clinging to the ice, but they pick up packed snow when it's in the throes of melting, so hiking through the trails can be a lot more difficult under these conditions. Jackie and Jillie, with their little rubber boots, slide a bit on the ice, so they learn quickly to avoid the trails' central portions and move themselves effortlessly at the edges where snow, albeit fading, sill remains atop the ice.

Conditions are iffy enough plowing through the trails to discourage a lot of people from the larger community from coming in; certainly those who haven't availed themselves of the safety quotient in wearing cleats prefer not to enter under these conditions. The result is that we mostly have the trails to ourselves, and the atmosphere is quiet and peaceful. Other than crows mobbing raucously at this time of year. We haven't caught sight of the ducks paddling through the creek lately. The creek, full of snowmelt, is fairly tumultuous as it roars downstream, and perhaps that's why.

Irving is still putting out peanuts on our porch, along with torn-up bread for the wildlife. We've seen a few squirrels obviously carrying young, so he feels committed to the practise, though it makes a right royal mess on the porch. Last night one of the area raccoons came around the porch, untroubled by my presence on the other side of the glass front door. They doubtless recall winters before when Irving used to put out dog kibble and entire raccoon families would come along from the ravined forest, crossing the street to reach the porch.

I thought yesterday evening since it's still so cold, that a comfort meal would be in good order.  Anything with sticky, oriental-style rice is considered comfort food by us, reminiscing about our year living in Tokyo. I marinated thin beef strips in chopped garlic, soy sauce and olive oil, chopped up garlic cloves, onions, snow peas and baby Bok Choy for a stir-fry served over rice last night, and we really enjoyed it.

I'm hoping for a better weather day tomorrow. Much of the snow and ice on our front lawn has melted. And as it melts it reveals an astonishing amount of detritus that has to be cleaned up. From tree branches to piles of conifer needles, and all manner of bits and pieces that tend to gravitate to the driveway and the lawns over winter. It'll take some cleaning up, but if the day is pleasant enough, I can get a good start on our spring clean-up.