We'll Find Out

The mulberry bush in the backyard had grown to epic proportions. According to my neighbor, Ed, it had volunteered itself some years before I moved in. I'm not sure it's ever been pruned. I know my own pruning has been spotty, at best.

I finally noticed, at the beginning of the summer, that the mulberry bush was beginning to brush the roof of the house. This was enough to make me nervous, and spur me into action.

So, I've been slowly pruning it back. Sawing away at the bigger branches, doing my best to direct their descent away from the house. Having a fair complexion, and being sensitive to the heat, I mostly do this work early Saturday morning or in the weekday evening twilight. A little bit at a time. The main constraints are my energy level, and the space available in the lawn trash bin.

I had two three-day weekends in a row, and decided this would be a good time to put a push on to get that mulberry bush below roof line. Last Saturday morning, I climbed the ladder and sawed down limbs. I pruned as close to the main trunk as I dared. I ended up with a pile of limbs about four foot deep. By the time I had created this pile, I was tired and hungry.

The following week, I worked at pruning those limbs and filling the lawn trash bin. It soon became clear that the bin was getting full. As he has done in the past, Ed offered to let me use his bin. So, I borrowed it.

Skip to last Friday. I've filled my bin, and am working on the one I borrowed from Ed. I've made a serious dent in the piled limbs, and have high hopes of clearing all of them by nightfall. Ed leaned over the fence: "Think it'll all fit in there?" "We'll find out!"

Ed went on to do his own yard work – primarily watering his garden. After a bit, he went to water the garden in his front yard.

About thirty minutes later, Ed returned to the backyard. I was pushing the twigs and leaves down. "Boy," he said, "You're really packing it down!"

"I don't see why not." By now, the bin was about ¾ full, and there were four or five limbs left on the ground.

"Think it'll all fit in there?" he asked again. I gave the same reply: "We'll find out!" I felt like I had entered a Zen story. Ed seemed amused by my response.

I kept plugging away with pruning shears and saw. Perhaps twenty more minutes passed, and now there were just two limbs left. "Think it'll all fit?"

"We'll find out!"