It finally happened. The repercussions of an extremely mild winter are showing themselves. I just finished a two week run with antibiotics. I actually pulled seven (count ‘em) ticks off myself in one day. I find them everyday in troublesome numbers. I seem to pick up most of them in my vegetable garden. I’ve whined about my vole problem endlessly and now I believe the little critters are the source of the huge tick population. Honestly, there are times when nature can be so annoying. I’ve resorted to rolls of scotch tape everywhere to trap the ticks after removing them from myself and the animals. I’m half tempted to Frontline myself.

What a lovely rain last Sunday and Monday. It was such a relief to be free of watering duty for a few days. People were beginning to express concern about the water table and depths of small ponds. I simply cannot fathom the years-long drought in Africa.

Both my Virginia bluebells and bleeding hearts are up and blooming. The Virginia bluebells move themselves around so I have quite a few to share.

We all have been enjoying and speculating about the signs. One at the Tashmoo overlook reads “Look how much I adore you.” The other one we’ve noticed in the pasture at Nip ‘n Tuck Farm says “Nothing’s perfect but you come close.” These are no ordinary hand-painted signs. The posts holding them are six by six inches. We are hoping there is a hopeless romantic among us.

The latest news in the so-called organic pest control world is the link between Dipel and Parkinson’s disease. Not only have many of us used it for years on our cabbages, tomatoes and kale, but we considered it harmless. It is a bacteria which acts on the stomachs of cabbage worms, tomato hornworms, and any of the pesky caterpillars. It causes them to starve to death. Now I wonder about Conserve, the product used by big landscape companies to control the winter moth damage on our ornamental trees. I have to go back to the Roseanne Roseanna-dana quote, “If it’s not one thing it’s another.”

I’ve noticed some lilacs in bloom. I think it is very early for them. For years when my children were little, I sent lilacs with them on Memorial Day. The school paraded to Owen Park and tossed flowers off the dock in remembrance of those who died in service to our country. Both lilacs and Bridal Wreath spirea were in full bloom at that time. Heaven forbid I use the global warming explanation, but it is curious.

Our group order of potatoes arrived from Fedco. Thanks once again to Melinda De Feo for organizing for us members of Homegrown. We saved quite a bit ordering together. Now, the spuds need to get into the ground soon. Oh boy, there is never a lack of things to do.

There is a delicate little white weed blooming right now. It has insinuated itself into beds and lawns at an alarming rate. We called it popcorn weed since when touched the seeds pop all over the place, including in your face. I just found out that its name is Spitting Cress. How fitting. I had a friend tell me not to let weeds go to seed. Oh, really!

I need to reread my copy of the United States Constitution. I thought we had a government with a series of checks and balances among the three equal branches. How come the Supreme Court gets the last word? Since Bush versus Gore in 2000, the conservative court has been making some right-leaning political decisions. They struck down the Lilly Ledbetter case asking for equal pay for women doing equal jobs as men. The Citizens United decision has forever changed how political campaigns are run.

Take the recent decision concerning a New Jersey man. Mr. Florence was a passenger in a car driven by his wife. The officer ran the man’s statistics and found outstanding parking tickets (he later proved they had been paid). The man was arrested and strip searched in two different police stations. Did I mention he is African-American? He took the case all the way to the Supreme Court where he lost. The five to four decision allows strip searches now for any crime. I wonder how this will fly when the next Tea Partier gets busted for failure to license his dog?