The tale of a year is written deeply upon these elm leaves.
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The green and promise of spring, the drought of summer, and now the returning of autumn.
Within these main themes are the individual stories of the many insects that have fed upon them and made them their home.
They hang now, like those musty of flags of ancient parish churches, threadbare and worn, a testament to the tempests they have weathered.
So here they wait, for that last fateful act in their story as leaf, the final zephyr that will part them from this tree for ever.
The great wonder of nature, however, is that the tale continues, even after leaf fall, as they return to the source to start a new chapter in this great saga of life.
If pests have found a home as well, here’s a guide on how to kill termites.
Photo: Spanish Elm at Saladaviciosa. Courtesy of the author.