Yesterday, a heat-resistant nephew came and trimmed the shrubbery in the front yard. The four big bushes now have pleasantly unnatural shapes -- three rounded and one a tall, oblong box. From an early age, I was fascinated by trimmed shrubs. It is odd, given that I am displeased by most forms of tidiness in landscapes. For some reason, I've always felt that many bushes benefit, aesthetically, from a rigorous trimming.
Among the shrubs in the yard across the street from mine is one bush kept nicely rounded. In front of it, from my point of view, is a plant which until a few days ago was a smoky gray color, and rather oddly shaped. From where I sit under the mulberry tree, this grey plant superimposed on the rounded bush looked like exposed rock, and this caused the dense green foliage of the unblocked part of the bush to look like some sort of lichen or moss growing on a huge boulder. It was a pleasing optical illusion, and I was saddened when the gray plant turned green and vanished into the green background. But I still enjoy looking at the rounded shape of the now obvious bush. I'm quite annoyed with myself that I didn't think to take a picture of the illusion while it was there. Must remember to do so next year, if the illusion returns.
Dusk falling, the heat persists. Soon, I'll have to turn off the air conditioning, and the house (with attic fan still unrepaired) will rapidly turn back into a furnace. Sluggo will be displeased, so I'll probably let him sleep all night. The cats and I will go outside and wait for the breeze to come up.