Trimming job

It is not that I’m great at giving haircuts, but if asked, I can do a fair job. This morning, following our daily run, Mireille Dusser, our hostess for two nights at Ayros-Arbouix, in the French Pyrennees, told us that her hedge needed some adjustmentsand we quickly gathered a tall ladder, some clippers and got to work. Time and the abundant downpours that France had been receiving lately had given an “afro” look to anything that could grow and was supposed to stay on the “straight and narrow…” Evelyne was simultaneously holding the ladder and watching for incoming traffic in the narrow street while Mireille was cleaning and bagging the abundant clippings. Precariously perched on the thin aluminum ladder I was doing my very best shearing the excess leaves while keeping an eye at an ideal three-dimensional mind’s eye picture of what a perfect job should be. My fear was that the line might be ragged, not plumb and that after adjusting countless times by cutting more and more we’d end up with no hedge left. That concern served us well as the final job was close to perfection and for a brief moment I thought quite seriously of starting a new career in the landscaping business.