Status Updates From Snow in April

Curlews rose from the margins of a small reed-fringed loch, and all at once it seemed possible that the empty trees would soon be in bud and the long-awaited spring almost upon them.

The morning was completely quiet, all sound muffled by the snow, and yet there was life about. . . here tracks ran beneath the trees, and the small starred footprints of random birds. High above, the branches of the beeches met in a soaring arch, a lace-like tangle silhouetted against the pale, bright morning sky.

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