The trees, however, were bare, creating dark, bleak silhouettes against an anaemic winter sky.

BBC: The quest to see China��s extraordinary frozen fog

Finalists: Aaron Jay Kernis for "Pieces of Winter Sky, " premiered on November 15, 2012 at Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, Conn.

WSJ: 2013 Pulitzer winners in journalism and arts

But under the husky winter sky, where snowflakes twirl down toward the ground in a dizzy spiral and the wind bites your cheeks, something is brewing.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Culture on Demand: Letter from Cortona

Other finalists included previous winner Aaron Jay Kernis for classical composition "Pieces of Winter Sky" and jazz musician Wadada Leo Smith for "Ten Freedom Summers, " a 10-part examination of the civil rights movement.

NPR: Caroline Shaw Wins 2013 Pulitzer For Music

In winter, when the sky got dark early and Mother worried about her making the long commute home, Naima would sleep on my bedroom floor.

NEWYORKER: Naima

But Whistler makes for a long, expensive and potentially stressful daytrip, especially on dark winter evenings when the winding Sea-to-Sky Highway can be tricky to negotiate in a car.

BBC: Skiing near Vancouver��s city limits

But if you hit one of those beautiful winter days when the sea is calm and the sky is blue, continue along the coast path for about two miles until it curves into the hidden bay and tiny old harbour of Lamorna Cove.

BBC: Britain's winter wanderland

The sky was gray near the tops of the mountains, as gray as a dark day in winter.

NEWYORKER: Beginners

Arctic sea ice cover grows each winter as the sun sets for several months, and shrinks each summer as the sun rises higher in the northern sky.

UNESCO: CULTURE