Winter Jewels

Normally she spends her time outside looking up, scanning subconsciously for birds. This morning, taking out the kitchen scraps to the compost pile, she has to watch her step so as not to slip on the hidden steps and logs. On close inspection, the snow glitters in the wan winter sunlight, a blanket of hundreds of tiny sparkling crystals. She's never noticed this before, used to seeing snow reflecting sunlight as one large blinding flash of light, ecstatic to discover so many jewels underfoot.