Gratefully, I threw the last armful of Ivy into the back of the truck, a thin rivulet of sweat running down my temple, irritating my already itching skin. A quick look at the van’s dusty digital display confirmed the near proximity of lunch. In fact it was ten minutes or so away, but my boss was working miles away and there was no one around to clock watch. Not that I cared much anyway, it was mid April and seemingly endless days of cold grey drudgery had broken suddenly with a gloriously sunny spring day. I was hot and somewhat irascible!

I’d spent the morning hacking skin-tormenting ivy down from the tall Southern fa

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