Tuesday and the rain came

What a wet day and grey too. Early morning rain gave way in the afternoon to some sun, but not the best of days; weather wise. Me, I stayed in and kept warm until the afternoon when D took me for a walk. Very pleasant in the sun. Two days running D and I have spotted a fox sitting in the afternoon sun by a fallen tree on the common. Sees us but does not bother as we don't bother him, so all is well.

Seems that in the late 80's a storm changed direction and created havoc in the South of England. Thousands of trees were uprooted or so badly damaged that they needed cutting down. Kew Gardens was one notable place to loose many of it's old trees. However, as a result people now have a better understanding of tree growth and root structure. As a consequence new plantings take into account root spread and how soil can become compacted around trees if humans are allowed to walk around them. Us dogs help irrigate them and also use them as territorial markers and as a living thing we acknowledge their right to exist.

One of the problems with humans is they get attached to trees and in the main their attachment is misguided. Take for instance all the silver Birch trees in peoples garden that at present are just small trees. Within the next 10 years they will be too high to keep manageable and as a woodland tree not suitable for gardens they will then create a future problem. When houses are built around trees for aesthetic and environmental reasons the developers will not consider future growth of the trees in relations to the space to maximise building plots and profit. A reluctance to cut down, thin out or reduce the number of trees will lead to problems in the future for humans. How many Elm trees are there as a result of Dutch Elms disease?

According to the news the weather for the next few days is set to be sunny. Looking at the sky at the moment I think they might have got it wrong. Looks like more rain on the way. But as my front leg is not a multimillion pound computer I will put this stiffness down to age and not damp. See you.