I am becoming one of those New Yorkers that has to get out of the city on the weekends. I love what it's been doing to my mind. A day or so surrounded by grass and trees calms me down and the focus I have when I get back into Manhattan is incredible. If/when I pass my driver's test in a few weeks, my excursions may become even more ambitious. I need this kind of Zen in my life.
Luckily, I have an easy out if I need some fresh air. The house I grew up in is well over 100 years old, in West Norwalk, Connecticut. It's right on the Darien and New Canaan borders. Due to its age there are no fewer than 932 home improvement projects that could be done on any given day. Today I chose yard work, specifically mowing the considerable lawn (the house sits on an acre) and attacking a few bushes with the hedge clippers.
There's a lot of talk lately about female empowerment -- Leaning In, Thriving, etc. --- but nothing makes you feel more She-Ra, Princess of Power than taking a pair of hedge clippers (more about those below) and showing a bush who's boss. Today I spent the better part of two hours dismantling a forsythia bush that was many times larger than me. Next: world domination.
Today's other takeaway: the Susan G. Komen Foundation will officially put their breast cancer ribbon on anything. Case in point: these pink hedge clippers. It's good to know, though, that if breast cancer decides to hide in shrubbery, it doesn't stand a chance.
