I invited Matt over on an unusually warm late winter day in the PNW.  Two ideas: Matt in his element pruning trees outside (above); Matt taking the outdoor technique indoors and getting a little carried away (below).

This blossoming flibert tree (also known as a hazelnut tree) is a sign of the beginning of spring.  The pollen on each flower is loaded, and the slightest gust of wind releases plumes of the fine yellow dust.  Honey bees were loving it, one of their few choicest sources of food this time of year.  Matt climbed the ladder.  I positioned lights and posted on top of his car.  Snap.

Banzai pruning is an artform, same as large-scale pruning, but on a different level.  Instead of setting up Matt to look like a Zen master delicately snipping away at this miniature money tree, I wanted him to look guilty, cutting away his profits with shock and awe.  Maybe it also reflects the scale of environmental damage that the fracking on the Bakken Shale in Montana and North Dakota cause, as well as the further advancement of permitting for the Keystone XL Pipeline.  As an individual, spending his days outdoors working with trees, Matt chooses the preservation and cultivation of nature over the growth of the “money tree”.