I made a futile attempt for the six o’clock boat out of Woods Hole on Tuesday morning. The full moon was hovering over the golf course on the Woods Hole Road. It made the snow an eerie apricot color. I immediately went full-on Night Before Christmas.

“The moon on the crest of the new fallen snow gave a luster of midday to objects below.”

I was so amazed sitting in the standby line. First of all, there are a remarkable number of day laborers boarding the boat—so many in fact, I could not find a place to sit on the upper decks.

Secondly, I watched truckers back enormous fuel trucks onto the freight boat. I could only marvel at the skill involved.

Here it is, cold but the season has taken its inevitable turn toward spring.

I have fully blooming witch hazel in the yard as well as snowdrops and crocuses breaking ground.

Several weeks ago I mentioned the huge amount of crows hovering over the post office Five Corners area. Now they have been replaced with a flock of turkey vultures.

These carrion eaters are everywhere gliding effortlessly. I heard that they detect gas pipeline leaks because the smell of death attracts them.

It’s just a matter of time and I will have some substantial garden news to report. In the meantime, please bear with my musings.

I did spend a sunny afternoon — saw in hand — pruning the quince and a couple of fruit trees. I am, however, not fully committed to the task. I left all the cut branches lying around here and there. I think within a few weeks, I had better get serious. The yard, in general, is looking quite shabby. I was hoping for a good snow fall to cover a multitude of neglected tasks.

I did have to chain myself to my desk. It’s tax time and, as usual nothing is remotely in order.

The Vineyard in winter is anything but boring. I was priveleged to attend two separate events at the West Tisbury library.

One featured Sakiko Isomichi. She has done an exhaustive study of our trash situation here on the Vineyard. She followed the Bruno’s truck to a facility in Wareham and showed how our refuse is broken into usable components. It really made me think about everything I toss in the waste bin.

Then, last Saturday morning, Roxanne Kapitan held a seminar on Regenerative Backyard Gardening: Gardens of the Future. I was delighted to see a large turnout for the event. Roxanne warmed to her subject immediately and offered hints and information to make gardening fun, not overwhelming, and part of a person’s life and well-being.

All the libraries offer talks, movies, and gatherings to appeal to everyone’s interests.

This coming Saturday at the Agricultural Hall is the annual Meat Ball. Good food and dancing will be happening.

Monday evening I watched the New Hampshire town hall with Amy Klobuchar. She left us with a wonderful quote from former vice president Walter Mondale. It is on a plaque at the Jimmy Carter Library.

“We told the truth, we obeyed the law, we kept the peace.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about truth-telling in public life. Thinking seems all that is happening since very little truth is coming out of our current White House.

What is so disturbing to me is that lying has become so common that we no longer notice or even seem to care. Even Trump seems bored when he answers questions from reporters. He says his perfunctory “Fake news” and we all yawn.

What is so curious to me is that he keeps saying “witch hunt” and “no collusion” yet many around him have pleaded guilty. There was a popular bumper sticker in the early 2000s. “If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention!”