HIGH NOON

Well maybe not exactly high noon, but pretty near - near enough for the purpose of this tale I'm about to relate. Gimme a whiskey. Sogyu was due at noon. Sogyu was Gary Cooper-- cool and taciturn, Japanese gardening and landscaping expert. It was high noon, or pretty near, when he came from Kyoto town, out the dusty road to the mountain ranch. It was time. I went out to meet him.

In the holster at my side I was wearing my trusty Gracemaker. And what a tool it was, signed by the maker Wakajishi, the clippers that won the East, or at least my part of it. Popular in fast-draw gardening circles hereabouts, and bonsai too. A name to reckon with in these parts. Not for the mountain country those imitations of quality you see all over the place, sometimes with aluminum blades even, dadblast it; no, this was quality iron, forged in the ancient Japanese way swords were forged, from select steel, with care. Sure it cost more - a lot more - but it's worth every yen when your lifestyle is on the line. And man is it a beauty to use-- cuts like a bonsai master's dream, sharpens like it was up front in the Seven Samurai.

I was wearing my old Gracemaker as I say in the holster on my gardening belt when I stepped outside to meet Sogyu, who had stopped by to talk about some work, when something caught his eye and he suddenly went silent like Gary Cooper; he was looking at the holster on my hip. "Ahh, I see you have the fine clippers..." Yes I said, showing my quick draw. He examined the well-maintained artistry; there was a kind of Samurai/High Noon background music playing up in the sky somewhere.

We talked our talk, then Sogyu went on his way down the mountain road; I turned and set off into the garden. Getting a bit wild; it needed taming.