Here we are days away from Independence Day. Life flies by, especially as one ages. Remember how long it was between birthdays as a child?

I was very thankful for the tiny bit of rain on Tuesday morning. I think the trees and shrubs got a nice rinse. I must say, I am weary of the pollen. All my workers are coughing. Oh well. Nature does not respond to criticism.

Plants are growing at an alarming rate. Recently in the nursery I noticed some cleome and cosmos still in their tiny six packs. The plants are over two feet tall and blooming. How is that even possible? Life supported by two square inches of dirt and roots? The life force is powerful.

There is a lovely stand of locust trees at the entrance to the Allen Farm. I used to have them but now all the tops have died for some unknown (to me) reason. They have a wonderful fragrance when in bloom.

I tried to kill a tent full of icky caterpillars by sloshing white vinegar on it. It seemed to work but was very unpleasant for me and, I’m sure, them.

The corner of Cooke street and the Katama road in Edgartown is particularly beautiful. There are some large red maples, pink dogwoods and nicely placed evergreens. It was planned and planted some time ago. Good job.

Also, I love the entrance to Heather Gardens. There is both a pink and white Kousa dogwood. I like that combination. Also, blooming on a post is the fragrant Betty Corning Clematis. Check it out.

Last week I mentioned the daisies at the Captain Flanders place on North Road. They still look great as do those oxeye daisies all over the Island.

We have an ancient palomino quarter horse. Her name is Daisy. She used to lie down completely and eat grass without picking her head up. She is enjoying her retirement with another geriatric horse, Star. They are both 32 years old which is probably over 100 in people time. She was striking, standing in the field of daisies at the Tashmoo Farm. She spent more than 25 summers in that field.

I had a conversation with Don Brown recently. He knows a lot about trees. I asked about the lichen that is all over trees. He called it the canary in a coal mine. He said it is the indication of good air quality and that it does not hurt the tree. It is never found on trees in urban areas. I found that to be comforting information. I always saw that stuff as unattractive and deadly. Who knew?

The big news this week was the 15-hour filibuster in the U.S. Senate by Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy. He actually won the opportunity to bring up some modest gun control measures for a vote. The NRA-backed Senate Republicans promptly voted no. They will not even concede that an individual on the terrorist watch list should be prohibited from purchasing an assault weapon. The reasoning is that some “law-abiding” citizen may be wrongly on that list.

Maine Republican Susan Collins, a reasonable woman, is now sponsoring a bill to at least alert the FBI that a suspected terrorist bought a gun. I’ll be surprised if it passes. After all, the Senate forbids the CDC from studying gun violence.

These people make $200,000 a year to do the people’s work. I want a refund!!!