Till Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane

When I went outside this morning to hang up the bird feeder, this is what I saw:



And this . . .



It makes our covered patio look more decrepit than it actually is, but I guess that's what happens when a branch this big . . .



Falls from a tree this tall . . .


Whenever this kind of arborial fallout happens in my yard, I always think about MacBeth and the prophecy he scoffs at -- that his enemy will approach when "Birnham Wood do come to Dunsinane" -- which MacBeth thought was foolishness -- how could a forest move? -- until he saw his enemy approaching camoflaged in the branches of Birnham Wood.
So there was a little bit of Shakespeare this morning along with the annoying task of clearing out the foliage.
I've seen this kind of thing happen before when it's been very wet after a dry spell. If there are any faults or flaws in the wood, the water will enter, the branch will swell because of all the rain, and down it will come.
We didn't even have any wind last night, so it was just the weight of the sodden wood that brought it down.
Luckily, we had no damage.
The irony is that just yesterday the tree guy was at the house cutting down one of our trees and hauling away a bunch of brush.
He won't be back again for a month.
Still, it was a bit of a magical sight on a summer morning.