I’ve been writing this column since 2007 so in a quick math check that’s 16 Julys. I think I’ve complained in every one that July is our month with the least rain. That is until now.

I cannot remember ever suggesting to someone to turn down the irrigation.

Granted, this is great for the trees and water table, not to mention my peace of mind.

As I sit here on the Fourth of July, it’s gloomy and misty and I’m trapped in my house. Whoppie! I think I’ll make some soup.

I’m experiencing a first-world problem. I cannot keep up with the bounty in the vegetable garden. Lettuce for three meals a day is the new normal.

It’s hours later and I take back everything I said in the last several paragraphs.

The sun has come out and it is positively steamy outside. I decided to pick food and instantly regretted it. I will say I was overwhelmed with empathy for our fellow citizens in the Southeast, Texas and far Southwest.

I swear I could see vegetables growing before my very eyes.

Beans I planted a mere two weeks ago are bound for glory.

I pulled some garlic and found it already set with its cloves. I went ahead and yanked the entire bed. It is resting comfortably on a bedsheet strewn in front of the air conditioner.

Hopefully it will cure in a few days to be “put up” for the winter.

There are several very nice copper ninebarks along the fence at the old Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Edgartown, now called Cooke House and Legacy Gardens. I went by recently and the sun was shining through the leaves of the shrub. Check it out; it’s very underrated. It blooms in spring and looks great all summer. Its formal name is physocarpus opulifolius “mindia” or, commonly, coppertaina ninebark.

I have a couple of weirdo animals. One, I’ve mentioned before, is a naked neck chicken. She escapes the yard daily, follows me around and tries to get into the house and vehicles.

There is a family of sibling rabbits, still young, who hang out eating the lawn and are not at all afraid of me.

One time I was deadheading petunias on a raised deck. As I dropped the spent bloom over the edge, a bunny waited patiently and ate each one as it dropped.

Both petunias and impatiens benefit from weekly removal of all blossoms. Trust me, they will be back the next day all new and fresh.

Recently, I spoke disparagingly about my late-arriving sweet potato slips. I planted the dried-up, pathetic things with little or no hope.

As nature does, she came through and now they look wonderful. They must be cousins to morning glories as they are beginning to travel. As I recall, they do get a similar flower later on in the season.

Why oh why do we need to endlessly campaign for the presidency in this country? We have the top two GOP contenders trying to out-mean each other. Ron DeSantis may actually win that contest. He’s downright cruel and, wow, so totally thin-skinned. I’ve said all I can say about DJT.

Meanwhile Joe Biden puts his head down and does the job. It’s rich that Republicans who voted against the infrastructure bill are showing up at the groundbreakings in their districts and taking credit. Irony is never lost on those people.

I might send a dollar to Chris Christie so he can get on the debate stage. Would love to see him go at both Trump and DeSantis. May even pop some corn!