I hate gardening; I loathe it with a passion that borders on the irrational. I mean, the futility of it all! One cuts plants down only to watch them grow back bigger and stronger than they were. My own tiny front lawn is covered with pebbles, and the planters on my terrace are filled with wood chips that have the merit not to grow. Here is a portion of the walkway I am supposed to maintain as far as greenery is concerned. Since I have been away, the bushes have grown well into the path and it is necessary to duck to get through; if I ever catch the raving lunatic who saw fit to plant shrubs with a negative leaf to thorn ratio along a walkway, he’ll be sorry. Anyway, time to call the man who takes care of this sort of thing for me. Thank goodness for gardeners...