Everyone bundled against the cold, a little neighbourhood gathering stood before the mess that now distinguishes our front lawn from that of our neighbours, wondering what insanity would convince Bell Canada to begin such a project at this time of year. The fellow using the steam shovel to dig ferociously below the frost line to a depth of five feet had told us his father had worked in the Yukon for the RCMP, and his family set trap lines in the winter, so he was used to the cold, given yesterday's high for the day was -17C, with a wicked wind, and he had eschewed a jacket for a short-sleeved shirt.

We all soon dispersed, after one of those intense chats neighbours sometimes indulge in, they to return to their warm houses and we to continue on up the street into the ravine with Jackie and Jillie. Our two little dogs have missed their daily forays. With that wind emphasizing the cold to the extent that they froze up completely in just short visits to the back yard we felt it better to avoid any prolonged exposure to that extreme of weather.

By the third day, yesterday of deprivation, they were downright gloomy. Not so much Jillie but certainly Jackie. This morning they both followed us around wherever we went, and it was clear they were puzzled at the lack of opportunity we were giving them to race madly about on the forest trails. So we suited up, and this time they wore a light layer, a thicker one, and a heavier one still under their harness along with their indispensable boots before we set out for the ravine.

Today, after all, the weather is far more clement. No real wind to speak of, the sun full out blazing away cheerfully, and the temperature had risen to -16C. We'd had 20 cm of new snow a few days ago with that raging wind, so there was plenty of white puffy snow layering the forest floor. The depth of snow on people's lawns is now finally beginning to resemble an average Ottawa winter. What we did find somewhat surprising is that despite those high winds there was plenty of snow left sticking to tree trunks and boughs.

We keep marvelling at the fact that those tiny rubber boots are so effective in keeping our puppies' feet from freezing. But they do, enabling them to romp about to their hearts' content. We saw no one else out on the trails other than Rob who lives a great deal distant from us and enters through a completely different portion of the ravine; we had espied him in the distance, on another trail while we were up on the ridge of the main trail. But Nova, his almost-year-old puppy knew we were out and about and at several points through our circuit came to visit, happy to see us as we were to greet him.

Despite the lack of wind we found the cold did manage to seep its way through our protective layers of clothing, so we didn't opt for a really long circuit. As it was, our gloved hands began to freeze up before we exited the ravine. My cheeks under these conditions always resemble those of one of those Ukrainian/Russian stacking dolls. The new snow down on the trails have yet to be tamped down through a succession of days of use, so that too was a bit of a deterrent to a longer walk, since it takes greater effort to tramp through the trails under newly-fallen snow conditions.

There is absolutely nothing quite so magical as the sight of winter trees engulfed in new snow. We could see where the snowpack shows evidence of its increase, creeping up the trunks of trees, elevating our position quite substantially in comparison to what it is in the summer months. The sun glaring its vibrant rays through the tree tops glancing off the snow-laden boughs of trees creates an incredible vision of nature's perfect landscapes, and we're fortunate to be privileged to be exposed to it and to admire it so close at hand.

Jackie, skinny as he is, has little natural protection against the cold -- unlike Jillie, who is so solid and well packed that she feels the intrusion of cold less than he does -- and needs to come back into the house as quickly as possible after their brief forays of necessity into the backyard these days. It takes a few seconds of exposure and he begins to lift his delicate little feet. Not that Jillie isn't affected as well; it just takes a few seconds longer for her.

Immediately they go out into the snow they begin to run about after each other with manic energy, the urge to play over-riding the urge to evacuate. Even that brief energy expenditure isn't enough to keep the icy cold driven by a wicked wind from penetrating immediately. So, it's been out-and-in for them the last two days while the thermometer hasn't budged above -17C at the 'warmest' part of the day.

We put the fireplace on even before breakfast this morning and it's been blazing away all day. The heat that emanates from it, though it's a gas fireplace, is really monumentally helpful in warming up the family room. But we figured this day was an excellent candidate for having these little guys wear light sweaters to help keep the heat in. They were actually excited to be dressed; could be they linked that with going out, but there's no 'going out' for prolonged periods as long as this weather persists.

It's not that we haven't gone out in such weather before on many occasions. But never when the wind is so persistently nasty. As soon as any of the walkways front or back, or the driveway is shovelled, back in comes the snow, whipped back into place by the wind. Because the wind so effortlessly lifts the snow from surfaces with height, whirling it about in white ghostly sheets, it almost seems as though it's perpetually snowing.

On the other hand, for prolonged periods this afternoon the skies cleared and the winter sun came blazing out of its hibernation these past few days. Our two-story windows at the back of the house were brilliantly illuminated, the sun's rays warming them and they in turn transferring heat to the house interior. A very nice gesture on the part of Mother Nature.

Back in early fall we had been experiencing problems with our telephone landline and Internet connection. So along came Bell, our service provider, to detect a problem, temporarily linking us up with one of our neighbours. A permanent solution was in waiting. And unbelievably, Bell has chosen this week to get the work done. At this very moment, a small steam shovel is digging frantically into our front lawn. The purpose: to create a 'hole' five feet by five feet by five feet; depth, width and length respectively.

After which Bell technicians are supposed to be able to proceed with the permanent solution. But there's more at work here than just our faulty connection; the entire street on our side has been prepared for some kind of excavation and introduction of some kind of cables; flags identifying gas lines and other sensitive areas to be avoided have popped up everywhere.

Watching the shovel operator attempting to penetrate the frost line was quite the picture. Frost has penetrated so deeply that the shovel had to be employed repeatedly smashing down in a staccato effort to break through. When the excavation is complete, it will be topped with boards and surrounded by fencing. We can only imagine how this will affect our garden. Our mature trees of every variety will no doubt struggle in the spring for it would not be possible for that kind of digging to go on at that depth and width without disturbing some of the critical tree roots of our mature trees.

On the good-news side, however, we're looking forward to making a break for the ravine's forested trails tomorrow, to resume our trail walks, since the forecast for the weather promises an absence of harsh winds and rising temperatures.

There aren't too many times in any season when prevailing weather conditions convince us on occasion that it might be better to hesitate before deciding on our usual tramp through the ravined forest at our close beck and call. Yesterday was one of those days, with its piercing cold wind and a high temperature of -19C. We'd enjoyed a prolonged hike through the forest trails the day before and though it was only -8C that day, by the time we were halfway through our circuit we both felt the effects of the cold nipping fiercely at our faces and our well-mittened hands.

Jackie and Jillie, dressed in double coats and boots appeared oblivious to the cold, obviously suffering no discomfort. By the time we arrive back home on such days we have to pry those boots off their tiny feet. The boot tops become iced over, clinging to their hair, so the ice has to be melted before it will release the tops of their boots. And of course their legs over top of the boots become crusted with snow, though it doesn't seem to occasion much discomfort for them, until we arrive home and then they're irritated at the ice and try to tear it away themselves.

So that was yesterday, no ravine walk. When the puppies go out to the backyard sporadically throughout the course of a day they tend to submit to the grip of a desire to race madly after one another, the presence of light snow recently fallen seems to incite them to a frenzy of exhilarated action, a treat for us to watch, before they suddenly break off and race up the stairs to the deck, pawing at the sliding doors to magically open into the warmth of the house.

As matters turned out, last night dipped to -26C, the kind of cold that one doesn't imagine will generate snow, but snow it did, all through the night, leaving us with a respectable layer by morning. But the snow persisted throughout the morning and on into the early afternoon and Environment Canada warns that the storm warning hasn't been lifted. It's expected that the snow will resume dropping another five to 15cm over the 15cm already down.

The snow, added to the high for the day of -17C and winds gusting to 50 kmh creating white-out conditions represents quite the combination. One certain to make any kind of foray into the great outdoors risky for frostbite, and certainly some level of discomfort, however well one is prepared to face the elements. So, we chalked up another day without venturing into the ravine. A day of enforced idleness for our puppies, other than for their sudden short bursts of energetic playfulness.

Tomorrow? The forecast warns of more of the same, although Tuesday is set for the relief of moderating conditions, while Wednesday begins to veer toward immoderation again and Thursday-Friday offer more of the same; dipping temperatures and blustery winds. It's the dead of winter in Ottawa. Typical of weather conditions that always eventuate at this time of year.

Another January day, another roller-coaster ride on the weather front here in the nation's capital. It is, after all, winter. And while Australians are roasting in an unusually hot weather pattern even for their summer guaranteed to be extremely warm in their Micronesian region of the world we here in the North are oppositionally-weather impacted-and-challenged. They take dips into the ocean and we shelter in our heated homes.

Not that we don't venture out-of-doors, necessarily. Canadians are great believers in making the most of their climate, even in its most inclement conditions. What may be weather-challenging to some represents opportunity to others. Those countless Canadians who take to the ski hills, who teach their children the joys of tobogganing on a newly-snowed hill, who love to skate on the picturesque, groomed Rideau Canal, billing itself in winter as the longest skating rink in the world, take full advantage of winter in Ottawa.

And then, there's snowshoeing. We've done it all in our time. Snowshoeing, however, was our favourite winter occupation and there's nothing quite like facing a deep, undisturbed layer of snow in the fabulous winter wilderness of Gatineau Park to break trail and listen to chickadees taking refuge on windy winter days in snow-dappled trees that resemble some giant artistic hand portraying the perfect winter scene, coming across a startled buck on a hilltop, and gliding swiftly down a hillside plush with new snow.

Not to mention snowshoeing across a frozen winter lake, steeped in a coverlet of snow in that fabulous nature preserve, hearing the ice settling and cracking under one's webbed snowshoes, while viewing the flat expanse ahead delineating the lake, and appreciating the perimeter crowded with trees, noting in the process the browse-line where deer are wont to nibble for sustenance as far as they can reach up the needled branches of conifers.

Now, we 'make do' with what is serendipitously close at hand for us. While it took us only a half-hour drive from our home to access the Gatineau Hills, it takes us far less to walk the few metres from the house to the entrance of the forested ravine that divides a good portion of the community we now live in.

A relatively modest proportion of that community recognizes and values the presence of that forest as a natural gift allowing us the freedom and privilege of accessing a natural surrounding complete with its forest denizens, to advantage ourselves in its generous acreage of forest, viewing its startling beauty in all seasons of the year, breathing its pure, scrubbed air, admiring the wildflowers that crop up from spring to fall and enjoying striding along the forest trails after our companion pets.

In the very depth of winter's crushing cold we can moderate our times of exposure to reflect the atmospheric conditions as appropriate while not denying ourselves the pleasures inherent in trekking those trails, taking note of daily subtle changes in the landscape that means so much to our well-being and quality of life.

We knew before we started out on our ravine walk early yesterday afternoon that we wouldn't be out as long as usual. The temperature had moderated from the morning's -19C, to -15C but we knew also that it would be somewhat frostier in the ravine since the overnight temperature would be slow to match that of the gradual rise up at street level.

A slight wind at that temperature certainly goes a long way to making the atmosphere feel much, much colder than it really is. Booted this time, Jackie and Jillie were just fine and so were we. At first. It doesn't take long for the cold to penetrate the layers under warm winter jackets. When you're younger it doesn't seem as pronounced since when you're younger than 80 one tends to trot along at a fairly good clip.

We did that, to a point. That point being our age hampering our intentions. So, though forging along the trails at a more energetic pace than our usual still cannot match that of the  young and the hale we did begin to feel the icy pinch of the cold frosting our faces. We like to take our time, but it wasn't much of an option yesterday. So we proceeded and by and large the four of us keep fairly good pace with one another. After climbing each of the hills we pause a bit to retain our breath before carrying on, a temporary slow-down that our puppies are well accustomed to.

It was a sunny, clear day as most really cold days tend to be, the sun glancing through the bared tree tops among the hardwoods to illuminate their winter-dark trunks and brighten the snow pack. It's always lovely seeing the sun glowing above the canopy and flicker brightly through the tall conifers masts.

On our return home we decided to drive downtown to the Byward Market and Jackie and Jillie were beside themselves with excitement; their clue was that we'd left their collars on and their winter jackets. By the time we set off for the Eastern Parkway clouds had moved in and the sun struggled to cast its brilliance through the gathering cloud cover.

Because Jackie and Jillie were with us I remained in the truck and read the newspapers while Irving went out to the usual shops we frequent; the magazine store, the cheese shop. Traffic had been heavy once we left the parkway, the roads crowded with rush-hour traffic that always starts early in Ottawa, from three to around five. A lot of civil servants leaving Ottawa to make their way over the bridges to Quebec.

At the market there was no problem finding a parking spot close to our destination. Byward Market, a tourist draw and a 'chilling-out' place with all its many and varied bars and restaurants is a must-go-to area for Ottawans. You'd never know it yesterday, on this frigid winter day. One of the very few times that we've been at the market and it's looked desolate, totally abandoned, free of the presence of the usual crowds of people.

Goal accomplished with a trio of magazines and exotic cheeses that would satisfy our cheese craving for a bit, we found traffic much reduced in our new direction, returning home. The Ottawa River, separating the two provinces is well on its way to total freeze-up. In some areas it's already deep-frozen, in others it will take more time. Before this month is out fishing huts will begin popping up on the river, close to the Quebec side, adding to the visual atmosphere of habitation alongside the river a century ago.

Snow squalls entertained us while we were eating breakfast yesterday, viewing through the sliding patio doors as a violent wind gusting through the area picked up huge skeins of snow from rooftops, scattering the snow everywhere below, with the squalls bringing us not snowflakes but tiny, perfect pearls of snow that quickly accumulated and continued to be whisked by the wind, hither and yon. There were swirling white-out conditions, beautiful to look at and adding to the season's snow accumulation.

With those wind gusts came mild temperatures, but the wind presaged an imminent change in the weather, that much was evident. And though the morning had been heavily cast with an aluminum-shaded sky that kept releasing its burden of snow energetically scattered by the wind that folded tree tops back and forth, ruffling shrubs and doing its utmost to make the mild temperature seem colder than it was, by afternoon the sky had cleared though the wind remained and the temperature was steadily falling from its initial morning -1.4C.

By the time we decided to take ourselves and Jackie and Jillie off to the ravine for our daily ramble along the forest trails it was early afternoon and the temperature read -4.5C under clear skies, the trees in the garden still bending under the force of the wind. We decided that at that temperature our puppies would be fine dressed only in their winter coats and without boots. Their cold toleration dissipates around -7C, particularly with newfallen snow underfoot. We reckoned they'd be just fine.

And sure enough, they scampered about as soon as they were released to the landscape, excitedly paying no mind to the wind, bolting without restraint down the first hill that descends into the ravined forest and the creek running through it below. We thought that even taking the wind into account -- which was notably less severe within the ravine that it had been up at street level -- it seemed colder than what the thermometer had informed us. We were determined to have a good long hike through the trails; we'd been refraining from taking such long hikes on previous days when the cold was deep enough to be truly breath-taking, satisfying ourselves temporarily with shorter sprints.

It wasn't long into our walk when we came across someone we'd seen on an earlier occasion for the first time with his unusual Labrador, easily half the size of a normal Lab and with a spectacularly beautiful red coat, a shy dog but friendly and happy to make the acquaintance of our two rude little ruffians. He was a British-style Lab, we were informed, his name was Chester, and dwarfism accounted for his attenuated presence; a condition which had also somewhat contorted his legs making it difficult for him to climb stairs.

They walked alongside us for a good portion of our hour-and-a-half in the ravine. Chester seemed to fit right in with Jackie and Jillie's rambunctious attitude, though he was far more restrained than they are typically; yet they were fairly companionable. They weren't the only ones we came across, others we are far more familiar with had made an effort to take advantage of the 'milder' weather conditions and shelter from the wind that the forest environment offers to a good degree.

Toward the end of our hike, it became evident that our puppies were finally feeling the cold, just as it was obvious that the temperature was descending. Our cheeks and noses felt quite pinched from the cold and the probing wind. We knew that without their boots Jackie and Jillie's little foot pads would be stuffed with that newfallen, loose snow. We tend to carry them from our house to the ravine entrance to avoid their picking up salt from the road, used to mitigate the accumulated ice and snow that covers it to avoid the crushing pain that dogs can experience if their paws are full of salt and then exposed to extreme cold.

But the effect of the growing cold, the newfallen snow and the wind was proving too much for our little pups and we picked them up to allow them to have some relief a few times before putting them back down on the trail. When we exited the ravine, however, it was evident that they were cold-cramping, lifting their tiny feet in puzzled pain, so that called for carrying them back down the street again, to our house.

Cleaning them up afterward we found their pad interstices thickly crusted with ice, something that is bound to occur in these weather conditions and which irritates all dogs enormously, spurring them to try by themselves to dislodge the discomfort. Warm water certainly helps, generously applied. A quick and easy solution stamping 'paid' to the hearty excursion into and through the forest we all look forward to daily. The temperature by then was -7.8C, and continuing to fall.

Canada's capital city is one where bus ridership on public transportation crosses a broad spectrum of its population. There are as many committed public transit users in Ottawa who choose to use public transit as there are those for whom it is the only option. It is a public service viewed as invaluable to a fairly large metropolitan population of about a million people. For the duration of our working life in Ottawa, my husband and I were among that large contingent of regular transit users on a daily basis.

The OC Transpo bus involved in Friday's crash at Westboro Station was towed from the scene, revealing extensive damage, on Jan. 12, 2019. David Kawai / Postmedia

"I have complete confidence in these [double-decker] buses. If there's new information that comes from the police investigation, obviously we will take that into account, but at this point, I have full confidence that our mechanics and our professional staff have done and continue to do everything they can to ensure our entire bus fleet is safe and reliable."
"I don't know the individual [bus driver] personally, I don't know the individual's track [driving] record, and I don't want to prejudice what the police department is doing by offering an off-based comment."
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson

"We are deeply saddened about the tragic accident involving an OC Transpo bus on Friday, January 11, 2019."
"On behalf of the members of [the Amalgamated Transit Union] Local 279, we send our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones. Our thoughts are with those who were passengers or were injured on that bus, or who might have witnessed this collision."
Clint Crabtree, union president

Both these public figures speak to a one-vehicle accident that occurred during the Friday afternoon rush-hour last week when a double-decker bus in downtown Ottawa en route to the west end of the city, carrying close to 90 passengers returning home from work on a routine weekday trip slid at speed into an Ottawa transit station, its overhang slicing right through the second story of the bus halfway the length of the bus before shuddering to a halt. It was not a pretty scene.


It was a scene where three people died and 23 others were injured, some sufficiently seriously that limb amputation resulted. A driver still on probation was at the wheel of bus 269. A year since her hiring, Aissatou Diallo was given the responsibility of delivering 90 people safely to their destination on a winter day. Bystanders attest to seeing the bus slide on ice and mounting a curb prior to the accident. She had driven the bus into a station that was not on her schedule.

First responders were swift to arrive at the scene of carnage, and area hospitals geared up their emergency protocol to receive the injured. At the scene, when police arrived, the driver refused to answer questions; her absent cooperation resulted in her brief arrest and detention. She has not been charged as no grounds exist that an offence was committed, while an investigation into the crash is ongoing with police collision investigators engaged in the process of detailing what had occurred to occasion the accident.

The speed of the bus, black ice on the roadway, driver's field of vision intersected by sun glare, the potential of mechanical failure all elements for examination in which video cameras at all stations will be of use. Double decker buses are known to be more difficult to operate safely than ordinary buses; their centre of gravity due to height impact maneuverability, it takes longer to stop these buses and other issues are involved.

They're favoured because they can hold twice the number of passengers as an ordinary bus, cutting the need of another driver, and the saving on fuel to operate one bus instead of two all factored in. But like the accordion buses that are also operated in the city, the appropriateness of these buses during an Ottawa winter is questionable and is now being questioned.

As for the driver, she has two previous accidents to her credit. Mere weeks before this collision the bus she was driving collided with another bus at a different station and firefighters responded to passengers trapped on one of the buses as a result, one of whom was later treated for a head injury. She was apparently enrolled in additional safety training after that collision.

And according to police spokesman Constable Chuck Benoit, "The Westboro (Friday's) collision is an ongoing investigation and very complex. We will not be able to comment on any person that is part of any ongoing investigations."

The public is not responding well to the mayor's disinterest in inviting the Transportation Safety Board to launch an investigation of their own. They had investigated a previous double-decker collision with a train at a train-bus crossing in 2013 when six people were killed. The intense scrutiny under which the buses and bus safety came by the TSB resulted in a number of safety recommendations none of which have since been implemented.

The bus in which six people died is towed away from the site of the fatal bus and train crash in Ottawa, Thursday, September 19, 2013. Six people died in the crash between a Via Rail train and a city bus on Wednesday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

"The painful path families of the Ottawa victims will take, has been the path taken by the survivors and families of victims of other preventable crashes such as the 2008 Bathurst, New Brunswick fifteen-passenger van crash, the 2013 OC Transpo-Via Rail crash and most recently the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash, and too many others in between."
"In each of these events, there is evidence of lax regulation, inaction and failure to protect road users. this tragic status quo needs to change."
Transportation Safety Board statement