I took a road trip out to western Massachusetts to fetch Violet’s belongings from college. Both weekend days were fabulous. Students were in shorts and flip-flops and it was not unbearably hot.

I noticed all the different baby leaves on various trees along the highway. I wonder if, in the past, I have ever realized how many different subtle colors there are in the mid-spring.

After leaving the highway at Palmer, there is quite a bit of bumbling along before arriving in Amherst.

People had an inordinate amount of tulips. I wonder if deer aren’t the problem we have here. Maybe they are more religious with the Bobbex applications.

There also was quite a few yards with the bright red color — not found in nature — mulch. I confess I’m not a fan but I don’t know the folks so I’m taking the liberty of criticism.

Another observation was the amount of road kills. Unlike here, there were several golden-furred, house cat-sized bodies along the roads. I was baffled and unable to identify them by their forensics. Perhaps foxes?

In Pennsylvania there were always tons of deer killed and they were left to decompose.

We tend to our roadsides better here on the Vineyard, thanks to animal control people.

Here at home, I guess we could consider it to be high spring. The fruit trees are in their full glory, especially the crabapples. In years past my apples attracted Baltimore orioles but they have not shown themselves as yet.

I think several times a year I talk smack about hydrangeas. I do not see the appeal. They have new growth at the bottom but the top three feet are dead-looking pathetic sticks.

It’s sad that they are so over-used. There are so many other shrubs of multi-seasonal interest.

The vegetable garden is jumping out of the ground.

I planted a spinach called noble giant and believe me, it is! I’m not sure a person should eat this much of one food but that’s where we are.

Any day now, baby beets should be ready. We like the tiny ones sauteed in butter, greens and all.

I am getting a bit ahead of myself but when you are making a mental note of next fall’s bulb purchases, camassia belongs at the head of the list. I think it is called wild hyacinth. The flower is similar to the now-blooming wood hyacinth. It is much taller, maybe 18 inches. It can grow wild and is also known as Indian hyacinth.

I have a couple in the yard and cannot remember ever planting them. Then again, we’re talking memory here.

They come in white, blue and pink. Trust me, you’ll be happy with them.

There is no low to which Trump cultists will not stoop. Rather than a boring litany of all the democratic institutions they have insulted and defamed, let’s stick with the “jury of your peers” part.

Senator Marco Rubio called the jury in the E. Jean Carroll trial a joke and Tommy Tuberville, his Republican fellow senator from Alabama, said the verdict made him want to vote for Trump twice.

This jury of six men and three women was approved by Trump’s lawyer at the beginning of the trial. They listened to the evidence; the defense did not present a case; nor did Trump bother to show up.

The judge had to warn the jurors to remain anonymous for their own protection.

Do any of these Trump protectors have wives, sisters, mothers or daughters? More importantly, let me remind everyone of Joseph Welsh lashing out at Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s, asking, “At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” It’s really true that Trump could shoot someone on Fifth avenue and not lose any votes!