The one good thing I can say about the nonstop gloomy, chilly days is that my snowdrops have looked great for weeks. The patch has grown exponentially over the years. I started with just a few clumps and now have several areas 20 by 20. They spread like crazy and certainly are welcome at the end of winter.

A few years ago my tulips came up and bloomed beautifully. The very next day it turned 90 degrees and they promptly wilted and died. I am not particularly fond of 90-degree weather either, but an occasional 60-degree day would be nice. Folks are beginning to get a bit sour and there’s a lot of whining out and about.

I started peas in plug trays. It’s a method that works well for me. It saves the newly emerging sprout from the crows. I let them get a few inches tall before transplanting into the open ground. Then of course, it’s a constant battle with the bunnies. I think I have an entire extended family living inside my garden fence. They may be under the shed. I sic the dog on them but she cannot be bothered.

For the first time in years I ran out of my wood supply. As luck would have it several locust trees came down during one of our several wind events in March. Locust logs burn great even without a year or two to season properly. What would I do without my son Reuben to keep those logs coming?

There is a big magnolia tree on State Road in Vineyard Haven somewhere between town and the cemetery. It is within days of bursting into flower. I cut a few branches from mine to force indoors. They make quite a statement.

Back briefly to the inordinate number of sunless days in the past few months. For the first time in a couple years I’ve had to pay an electric bill. My solar panels cannot do their work, what gives?

Both the scilla and puschkinia are blooming. They usually come after snowdrops but both are happening right now. They are especially nice tucked in around some early daffodils such as February gold.

I took a chance and transplanted out some onions, spigarello, bok choy, beets and kale. I was sick of watering flats and plus I needed room to start some annuals. I seeded petunias, dahlias, begonias, coleus, and snapdragon.

Before we know it we will be behind. Isn’t that always the way. We cannot wait for spring, then it happens so fast we can’t keep up. I’ve already noticed more traffic.

I have an enormous forsythia. It easily has the square footage of my truck. It has been neglected for years. It has now thrown debris into the surrounding woods, they are blooming although some consist of a single twig. Do not do as I do. One of these years I will have at it saw in hand. I criticize others all the time, oblivious of my own failures. Such is the way of the world. A forsythia wants to be sparse and fountain-like. Two beautiful ones are between the two houses up State Road from town just before the Edgartown Road on the right.

Speaking of the way of the world . . . I admit that I am becoming increasingly alarmed at the emotional stability (of the lack thereof) of our commander in chief. He seems to becoming unhinged. The FBI break-in at the home and office of Michael Cohen, his personal attorney, has put him over the edge. This comes when we apparently are about to engage in military action in Syria. We can all hope and pray that cooler heads will prevail.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas (for whom the Parkland, Florida school was named) lived until she was 108. She said in the battle between man’s intelligence and his stupidity she feared stupidity would win.