Mom gets hotter while friends watch football.

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Sweat poured down my back as I hacked away at the backyard bushes with long-handled clippers. It was mid-fall, and not yet noon, but it was unseasonably warm. I was shirtless, and the late-morning sun warmed my sweat-covered skin.

In a few hours, several friends of mine would be coming over to watch a pro football game with me. But, now, I was in the back yard, and I had gardening chores to do. Mom wanted me to trim the hedges. So, I stood hunched over overgrown shrubs, trimming away all the excess and unruly branches.

I clipped away at the bushes...