First totally free-form day off
since arriving two weeks ago.
Sunny and cold, I tromped into
the woods, not the first creature
to pass this way since the snow.
With open water when we got
here, the swamp is now frozen
solid, a brilliant flatscape dotted
with snags. No one's quite sure
why the trees all died--might've
been a blight, or more likely the
area had been drained once then
flooded again for some reason.