This morning, I ran outside with a cauldron of boiling water and threw it against the base of a pokeweed. I have never felt more like a crone. Our land backs up to a wooded area owned by the county. They sadly neglect it and hope it will just thrive on its own. Except, of course, where there is a walking/biking path that they maintain meticulously, clearing it of debris and danger. But as the property gets close to ours, they shamefully allow buckthorn to take over and suffocate local trees. Only the fiercest of weeds survives along the edge. Years ago, an old ash dropped all its leaves. A…