One blocked Monterey scarf, 
Today, I had to drop some files off for the surgeon and found myself coming back via the main road into Stanford for the first time in months.
So. Here‘s a link to an older picture to give you an idea of what the area has always looked like, give or take a few trimmed-off dead fronds; the view is an announcement that You Have Arrived at Stanford University.
I didn’t have my camera this afternoon, and even if I had there was no place to pull over to use it.  But my stars! The trees!
I thought, okay, I can see doing that. Maybe. Under duress. We used to have a date palm and one of our kids fell into it and had to go to the plastic surgeon’s–the fronds are as sharp as sewing-machine needles and the trunks are nothing you’d much want to touch either if you didn’t have to. Drunk students? Did someone sue the University? Why did they do this?
Poodle cuts. They gave the palm trees poodle cuts. Shaved them smooth as can be all the way up and liposuctioned the trunks into rigid verticality, then turned the crowns into slicked poofs above, leaving the fronds at the top announcing, tadaaah! with their arms thrown out wide. Dig the new haircuts!
Poodle palms. Huh. There’s got to be a good reason, but I don’t know it yet.