Nor'wester

This morning at 6.30am it was warm- 20C, and calm in the garden. Out on the exposed bank I felt the soft caress of a slight breeze. It was silent apart from sparrows chattering in the hedge. Then almost imperceptibly I heard a faint noise in the north-west. The sound mounted as it approached, as loud as a coal train but twice as fast. Trees a hundred metres away suddenly bent over. The poplar windbreak across the field sprang to life hissing. The trees around me thrashed and roared. A wall of hot air struck me and knocked me sideways. For a few seconds there was chaos, all swirling leaves and red poppy petals. Then, like a train, it sped off, the noise fading in the distance. The trees composed themselves and calm returned.

This apricot tree is growing on the exposed bank. It used to lose its fruit back in November, but it is learning how to hold on it.