"The thin edge of the wedge"

The thin end of the wedge 

is something small and seemingly unimportant 

that will lead to something 

much bigger and more serious.

Let's see...that would be the chain of events that unfold when you decide to lower your overgrown laurel hedge by 3 feet.

Arborist #2 enters the ring.  A nice young man but a bit overconfident, as young men tend to be. His specialty is trees, so the hubris probably comes from chopping down enormous Douglas Firs on city lots. He would not be intimidated by a simple hedge.  He said his company could do the job in 3 hours for 2/3 less money than Arborist # 1 bid.  And remember, Arborist #1 couldn't run away from the job fast enough?

I laughed. I came right out and told him he was underbidding and underestimating. I said the hedge was cunning. I told him he was charging less than most people wanted just to trim it.  I put on my grandma face and said in the nicest possible way, "Take another look sonny, this hedge has humbled many strong men."  So he looked again, said he appreciated that advice, he added $75 to the bid.  I'm quite the negotiator, huh? But my conscience was clear.

So two young men arrive yesterday morning with their truck and chipper.  They told me they would be done by 1.  At 6 pm, they were just finishing up. They were beaten and exhausted. The poor things looked like soldiers coming back from a battle in Afghanistan.

"Lowering the top" quickly turned into trench warfare with chain saws.  When they cut along the slash line Arborist #1 had made, we realized there was nothing in the middle except bare, dead branches. By that I mean, the hedge no longer has a top.  We now have two thin walls of green leaves with a space in the middle big enough for a homeless camp.  I wrote a check for the ridiculously low bid (hey, I warned him) and we tipped the two hardworking boys for not giving up and running away.

On the bright side-- at least we still have a privacy barrier, even if it is ragged with holes. Sitting here now I'm enjoying the extra light and sky view. And as they say, you cannot kill the devil's hedge.  In a couple of years the center will grow up again, probably stronger than ever, ready for the next contender.