The Old Pine's Weather Diary: What a tree remembers of storms

Edwin Marsh

A pine that has stood through eighty winters holds a record no book can match: rings that thicken and thin with drought and plenty, bark scarred by lightning that struck decades ago, branches shaped by prevailing wind. This is a slow walk through that memory: how to read a trunk's history, what storm damage looks like years later, and why an old tree's patience has something to teach anyone willing to stand still and notice.