Advent - Watching and waiting.
While I was waiting for the first glimpse of sun to rise above the hill I watched a poor swan struggling to free itself from the thick ice in the flooded field.  It must have been trapped at least overnight and looked exhausted but there was nothing I could do to help.  After church, I walked back to see if the sun had melted the ice sufficiently and fortunately it had gone so there was no need to call out the RSPB.  I hope that it had enough strength to fly to a safer place.