Assignment #47: Stark Landscapes

In The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe wrote about the "bleak December" and with good reason. This is the month when the brilliant hues of autumn are replaced by the biting cold and chilling rains of the first days of winter. Instead of bleak, I think of this time of year as being stark. The growth from the past year is cleared away leaving the bare structure upon which next spring's blooms will emerge. For this week's Assignment, show us your impressions of the stark landscapes of December. —Christopher Robinson, Editor