Pruned
I spend a good part of every summer doing yard work. I enjoy working outside on those cool, balmy mornings of early summer, or in the early evening after a brief summer rainstorm has freshened the air and brought a cooling breeze. This summer, I seem to have spent more time than usual pruning bushes. I don't usually mind pruning. I like to see the transformation that results when I lop off the dead branches, leaving just the healthy, green branches that will bear fragrant flowers or luscious fruit. This year, I spent several days trimming the bushes that used to grow in the shade of the big, old hackberry that we had to remove last fall. Unfortunately, the people who cut down the tree could only promise that they would not damage our house. They gave no thought to the low-lying bushes that occupied a flower bed near the injured tree. So, they drove their heavy truck right over the bushes, and trampled them thoroughly as they worked to remove the tree. As spring burst upo