On Sunday, after brunch with Cowboy Sally, I trimmed some shrubs in the new back yard.

We didn’t have hedge clippers. The hardware store was closed. But I was inspired by the appearance of tulips and daffodils planted by an anonymous gardener who used to live here, so I clipped the shrubs with scissors. At the outset, I limited my efforts to a few small twigs. By late afternoon I was working on a small tree. Still with the scissors.

I was, it seems, in the grips of a shrub-trimming mania.

Now the scissors are ruined, my hands look like I clawed my way out from under a very heavy rock, and my nose is still the size of a small lemon because of all the pollen I inhaled. At least the hedges look pretty.

Next time maybe I won’t have the Bloody Mary* with brunch.

*shhh, cowboy sally, shhh…