Winter is here and with it the snow. It is beautiful, especially how it lightens up the long dark evenings and renders the morning and day the crystal beauty of a fairytale.

These two last walks I have come across a flock of whooper swans resting in the snow on a normally quite wet field. Their white or gray feathers, depending on age, and light yellow beak against the white winter landscape is a sight to be seen. To my joy they have accepted my presence as I stand there looking at them. Only their very soft song is heard in the stillness of winter, followed by the rustling sound of their feathers as they rouse. I’m impressed by their toughness and grateful to be able to watch their beauty.

I haven’t brought my camera with me on these walk. Though sad from one point of view, some moments are perhaps just meant to be experienced in their simple beauty. In that sense I’m not just an onlooker, but also a partaker in the same moment as them.