Pruning

Years ago, when I first began pruning the apple tree, it took two days, not the half-day (if that) of today. 

Whether it was years of neglect, crappy pruners ("A bad workman blames his tools," my mother used to say) or my unfamiliarity with the ways of the tree, I'm not sure. But now it's easier.

Yesterday I pruned the apple in two hours, and that includes a fall, with me hanging momentarily by the sleeves of my red checked work shirt.

Oh, the exhilaration I felt when the ladder slipped from under me. Gravity's caress!