I’ve been on-Island too long. Last Friday afternoon was rainy and windy. I took a road trip up to Marion to fetch Violet for the Thanksgiving week-long holiday. At best, I hate highway driving but the dark and rain were my undoing. It is not only the fellow travelers flying past me but the frightening thought that they are on their cell phones. The blue light coming from inside their vehicles convinces me that I really am old.

At any rate, here I am back home safe and sound. By the time this hits the newsstands we will be thinking of creative ways to use leftovers. There are still some attractive plants left in the perennial beds. The coral bells in their varying shades of lime green, caramel and burgundy will be great right through winter. The leaves of Shasta daisies are sturdy now that the spent stalks of summer have been cut.

I must encourage everyone to plant a few helleborous. They are year-rounders and will bloom either at Christmas or Lent depending on the cultivar.

I’ve been busy cutting the old blossoms from hydrangeas. They are looking sad. Also, now is the time to trim back any plant material that will rub on the house. The winter winds will cause fan-shaped markings and may worry some shingles loose.

For several years now I’ve noticed the white rhododendron in bloom this time of year. I’m not sure why. Perhaps the recent cold snap tricked them into thinking winter had come and gone. Just another one of life’s little mysteries.

Unless an onion is advertised as a winter keeper in the seed catalog, do not become smug about the Sweet Spanish or Ailsa Craigs. They have begun to turn. I spent some time culling through them for discards. I think I should do the same with the potatoes some day soon.

I finally dug the dahlias and put them into grain bags of peat moss. In the spring I planted a few varieties from seed and could not have been happier. It was so easy. I’ve decided to leave them in the ground. If a few come back it will be great. I simply do not have the time or space to save them all.

My grandma Kate used to say that accepting one’s limits was an admirable quality. I am doing it but with kicking and screaming.

Hopefully, the only discussions at the Thanksgiving table that turn into arguments will be sweet potato versus pumpkin pie. There is no question that most of us are firmly ensconced in our political camps. I know I am. I am gearing up for a New Year’s resolution to find common ground with some in a less liberal camp than I. This is an admirable goal. I’m most likely incapable of such altruistic behavior.

To wit, I’ve been following the ruling by federal judge Ketanji Jackson. She has written an opinion that a President is not a king nor is above the law. Therefore, Donald McGahn, former White House counsel, has to honor a congressional subpoena.

I may have to take issue. DJT actually is above the law. Looking back into his business dealings over several decades, he gets away with everything. He stiffed contractors, hired illegals, paid off women, and simply runs out the clock in any court proceeding.

He sees himself as an imperial President and those around him enable this opinion.

It’s odd to me that Republicans are so enamored with and/or afraid of him. They used to have a high moral code, believe in law and order, and always hold Russia in suspicion.

It seems they have relinquished those qualities to Democrats. What a world.