It’s funny how a 40-degree day in the fall has everyone bundled up but in March it’s a veritable heat wave. I saw a man in shorts for Pete’s sake!

Last week I wrote my column on Tuesday as is my custom. I mentioned that both my friend, Sharlee, and I still had no blooming crocuses. The next day we both did. These are the early species variety which pop up all over the place. Many are not even close to where I originally planted them years ago. Wonder how that happens?

The mammoth crocus have barely broken ground. They should make a show in a few weeks.

Violet’s photo this week was taken on a shelf in my greenhouse. There is no heat in there — just simple plastic walls and roof. I planted the pots with seeds in early January. It took a month to see any life even with my reading glasses. The extra spring sun is bringing them right along. We pick tiny leaves for our salads.

I put up deer fencing about 20 years ago around a now-defunct garden. Thanks to a ridiculous amount of bittersweet it is a complete disaster. I paid my daughter and granddaughter to remove it. It was worth the money.

A few weeks ago, this paper ran an article about crows. It was great and sang their praises. My maternal grandfather, Popop, was a huge fan of the bird. He appreciated the work they did cleaning up roadkills. In Pennsylvania, they did not have highway crews in the summer and it was common to see dead deer, bobcats and even black bears along the roadsides. I like how crows keep the hawks away from my chicken yard.

My son, Reuben, helped me with some large cuts on the apple trees. This is the time to rid the trees of suckers, water spouts, crossing or damaged branches and anything going straight in the middle of the tree. It requires work to maintain a desirable umbrella shape. No more than a third should be removed in one year, so an older tree may take a few years to whip into shape.

While he was at it, Reuben trimmed a branch from the sugar maple that was threatening to hit a car in the driveway. Sap began flowing. I put a bucket under the cut and gathered more than a quart of sap in half a day. I only need 49 more to make a quart of syrup. As if!

The last time I did a large project and said we, Violet pointed out, “What do you mean we?” Giving credit where it is due, she planted some potatoes for me this week. These were left over from last year’s harvest. They were really small — some the size of marbles. The thought of peeling them was too much and, plus, they had sprouted in the pantry. I know it is early but, hey, one can only hope.

I ordered my main crop from The Maine Potato Lady. They will not arrive until June.

Violet and I have been noticing some small wooden painted hearts on several telephone poles around Vineyard Haven. They appeared around Valentine’s Day. I love people and their endless creativity.

The American Rescue Package that just passed in the Congress is hopefully a change in the attitude of our country. For 50 years after F.D.R we were a liberal nation that cared for its citizens. He started Social Security and unemployment compensation. Eleanor Roosevelt was tireless in her work for the poor after the Great Depression.

Along came Ronald Reagan in 1980, with his famous “Welfare Queens.” His philosophy known as Reaganomics was that a rising tide raised all boats. Hence, the Republican party of today believing that tax cuts for the rich will create jobs for the poor. They just don’t want to pay a living wage for those jobs.

Way to go, Joe. Helping the little guy get through this pandemic and showing what good government can be. Too bad not a single senator with an R before their name could really care for the working class they claim to love.