I have been killing tree beings. Pine tree beings. Four of them. One was already dead. Oh and a holly being.
This is not a good look among the arboriphiles on the course. So I am NOT TELLING THEM.
It was an 'all staff' day at Pitsford, and was good fun. Best was that superb arborist Dan gave me some one-to-one tuition. I needed it as I'd not felled a real tree since my chain saw assessment in September.
A lot of trees died.
Even so, I still managed to get side-tracked by a few standing ones. The one on the front page - that beech, he had a branch that divided in two and then rejoined - leaving a ring. We have seen something similar in Glapthorn Cow Pasture.

This is so cool. Trees are free spirits. They seem so durable and static, but this shows such minute response to the environment.
I also loved this pair of sycamores.

Trees like this 'act' as one tree - they support and protect each other from wind and weather. Siamese twins, but not connected. Like that Platonic image... from the Symposium... how humans were one round thing with four arms and four legs and then got cut in half... and so we all search for our other half? Oh, you must know it. Here's a simple version. Anyway, these trees have found theirs.
Interesting about those sycamores.