It’s raining. We are walking around Auk Lake. The trail takes us through the little university campus where totem poles and a large raven sculpture carry burdens of snow. The lake looks like a Nordic skiers ideal. No tracks mar the lake’s thick snow covering except those made by a passing deer and, of course, the ravens. I don’t dare Aki to leave her paw prints on the clean white sheet. Even she might fall through the hidden spots made soft by current or warm water up swells.

It’s not raining when we reach the spruce forest that crowds the lake’s southern shore. But snow flakes falling from overhead tree limbs flutter onto the little dog and I. The snow that still clings to the trees and covers the ground brightens the woods with a gentle light.