Bird nest

Bird's nest with snow

One of the benefits of winter is to see such structures as bird nests, which typically go undetected when trees are fully leafed out.

Walking to church yesterday I spotted a bird's nest that happened to be at eye level.  Pretty impressive to see how well constructed this nest was, simply woven of twigs and grass.

It had been raining the day before and then turned to snow later on New Year's Eve.  Much of the ground developed a coating of ice overnight.  The sidewalk was brushed and made an interesting pattern, with icy craters (right).

Fifteen years of playing boot hockey helped me successfully navigate the icy sidewalks.