Gale force winds

Incredibly windy today. As I look out my work window I'm amazed that more trees don't lose branches or break off entirely. How can they be so strong but flexible? I'm always impressed when cutting hedges, at how heavy the branches can be when they're cut down but when they're attached to the tree they look light and graceful.

This is all to take my mind off the sound of drips into buckets. At the moment I have 6 buckets. Hopefully I won't need any more.