Winter Lace

We have a Forest Preserve close by with terrain that varies from rolling grasslands, steep ravines down to a winding river, to dense hardwoods that the deer play hide and seek in, as well as lowlands that flood after a hard rain.  I was wandering with my camera on a cold winter day, no snow but plenty of chilly winds and low clouds.  I found this field on a late afternoon and was stopped in my tracks by the sunlight highlighting these lacy, bare branches.  This is winter at it’s finest; a stark beauty available for all to see. The Canada Geese simply saw this as a place to rest and perhaps find something nourishing to eat among the windblown grasses.  I shivered in the wind but felt warm on the inside.