Dusk, Ice, and Snow

All afternoon a sparse dusting of snow has drifted down out of the sky. We walked down to the lake to get a little fresh air before it got dark. There was a bitingly cold wind, or maybe it was the impromptu nature of the walk and lack of suitable clothes that let the wind chill us so thoroughly.
The lake was more frozen than two days ago and, as predicted, the geese had gone and the lake was empty. The snow streaked the ice, giving it much more visual definition than plain ice, or plain snow for that matter. The lake wasn't empty for long - after a couple of minutes the swans appeared flying down the valley and made a surprisingly elegant landing on the ice, as far away from us intruders as possible. As before there were 5 of them, the parents and three youngsters.
The cold was really getting us to us so we turned for home and as we walked up the field the swans flew right over us, headed for Om Lake where there is more open water.