Have it Jest As You've A Mind To, But...

[poliphilo]

I ask Matthew to take the dead wood out of a tree that's still alive but struggling and he hesitates for a beat and then says, " The birds like the dead branches. They can sit up there and look around. No leaves up there so they get an unobstructed view."

There's nothing in nature that doesn't serve somebody's convenience.

We reach a compromise. "Tell you what," he says, "I'll take out anything that's liable to drop on someone's head..."