Skiing down the river

As I crossed the St. Patrick Street bridge across the Rideau my eye was caught by the tracks on the river's white surface below me, in an almost perfect herringbone pattern. Someone who trusts the thickness of the ice at this time of year had been skate-skiing right down the middle of the river. I came back across the bridge later and noticed the footprints of both people and animals, mostly closer to the bank. Someone had been walking along on top of the river in snowshoes too.