Katie tried

Katie tried, a play on Steely Dans 'Katy lied', though it's no lie that this Katy 'storm Katie' tried, and succeeded, to wreak chaos across the country, and for me more specifically the forest. The carnage she wreaked was evident throughout our beloved forest, with paths blocked and the forest floor strewn with debris, the very visible signs of the damage wrought by Katys' 106 mph winds. There are the deadwood twigs and branches, easily detached and nothing to worry about. But then there are the larger branches, the mighty boughs (of which there are too many) and even whole trees truncated. The mighty 250 plus year old Beech in the photo above was snapped like a matchstick 25 feet from the ground, it's budding crown strewn out in front of it. I suppose it was a blessing that the canopies have not come to full leaf yet, otherwise the damage would have been unthinkable. Some of the fallen boughs show how close we came to disaster, with buds so close to opening. It seems clear to me that this is climate change in action. Yes, we've always had damaging storms, and yes, there have always been anomalous storms of great strength, but this is different. Now these rare storm events are becoming more frequent, almost common place and the winds appear always stronger than in my youth. Sad times. Made even sadder as they're of our own making.