Snow, perhaps a third of an inch, sits on my deck this morning.

It is cold here. Colder than a human rights commissioner's smile, but then again Calgary sits two miles above sea level, and in this rarefied air whatever heat comes our way dissipates quickly.

The temperature is around zero. The high is projected for only around two degrees. Winter has fired an opening salvo, a warning to those who dawdle in getting good tires on the car.

I'm having my coffee with plans to tackle Nose Hill Park this morning because God knows I need the exercise and the replenishment. After that church will tackle me because God knows I need the self examination and the replenishment.

My plan is to enter the Brisebois gate and walk the winding path through the Aspen grove to the promontory above. The reward for the slight climb is that you can look south across the Bow River valley and to the Calgary skyline.

The mountains typically boldly proclaim themselves to the west, but today they'll be obscured behind low clouds. Toward the east the city falls away toward a prairie horizon, but today I'll be lucky to see past 14th St.

But there are always things to see on walks like these. Yesterday two white tail deer let me within thirty feet. We'll soon see what Nose Hill yields this morning, and wondering at that is always some of the fun. And wondering at it when you finally see it is the rest of the fun for God knows it is all a wonder.