I joked with Mary Ann that I should write a book called, “The Power of Pruning” as I reveled in the revelation that my new hand pruners were bringing me this year.  Ever since we built our house in the middle of the farm lane 16 years ago, I’ve been plotting and scheming my take over.  I started out cutting and puling grapevines out of the trees and weaving them into a fort for Allen.  Each year brought new plans for my attack from clearing out all the prickly ash trees to planting pine trees … and each year brought more prickly ash and everything else that could outgrow pine seedling who were lucky enough to escape the winter deer.

My big revelation is how easy and fun it is to simply carry some hand pruners with me when I take Ginny for a walk or mow the lane.  There’s a whole lot less effort involved with letting the lane do what it does whether what it does is poison ivy or a young oak reaching up and out of the verdure of it’s natural heritage.  I can now tend to my own personal pathway putting aside my plot to take over as I relax and enjoy the diversity that blooms around me.