So, in a year where there is so little that is within our control, I have chosen to take back control of my landscaping. Specifically, I have taken back my Arborvitaes from the family of deer that have been feasting on the bottom four feet of said hedges. I, like many homeowners in the Northeast, have woken up each day to the deer having eaten a little bit more of my shrubbery. Initially, at least over the past two years, the deer only grazed in the backyard, which consists of only five or six bushes. I put chili powder on the shrubs and they stopped, just short of decimation. Sadly, chili powder was not effective this past winter, so I had to resort to stronger measures.