Wrathful Nipping Cold

"Thus sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud,
And after summer evermore succeeds
Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold;
So cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet."

- Gloster, in King Henry VI part 2, by William Shakespeare

I took a little walk this afternoon looking for a shot to represent winter. Bare trees were nit hard to find; nor rain or clouds. It's been a pretty grey day. In the end I decided on a close-up shot of this (I think) cherry tree - which as you might see is actually just beginning to bud.

I actually took the picture in portrait orientation and then realised it looked better cropped like this. Perhaps I should have popped back out to just take the shot like this, but never mind. If it's a bit grainy it'll just add to the wintry feel. ;-) (And here it is large anyway)

Lumix G10, iPad, Photogene (crop, sharpen, lowered the white point, and added an inverse S curve to bring out the detail in the tree.