Ash

They say you don't miss something until its gone, or at least is threatened; how true.  Although I spend much of my time in the woods, the Ash had never really stuck out. That maybe because the Ash is not so common in the forest, not compared with the Oak, Beech or Chestnut. It's still the case that I don't see it much in the forest, but now  I appear so see it where ever I journey beyond the forest bounds. Another of our indigenous deciduous species threatened with decimation by disease, sad times. I remember the demise of the mighty Elms which once graced our woodlands, whose silhouette have now vanished from our skylines. The Oak too is threatened. Through less than scrupulous monitoring of imports, driven by reckless profit our forests, our natural heritage is threatened with extinction.  Will we ever learn?