I must say Monday’s sudden rain/hailstorm was a weather adventure I do not care to experience again. State Road at Four Corners was a fast-running river. I wondered if hail could actually break the windshield.

A few hours later it was completely clear and dry. I did not get the alert that many said came in on their phones.

Often people wonder about plantings that require little or no maintenance. I, in my usual smart alec form, reply, “Silk?”

Some things actually require at least weekly attention. One is buddleia, aka butterfly bush. It needs frequent deadheading to keep it in continual bloom. True to its name, the amount of butterflies attracted to it is remarkable. I purchased a couple recently — the dwarf variety. They rode around for a few days in the back of the truck. A short stop in traffic would bring the tiny creatures immediately.

Most annuals need frequent attention or they soon are nothing but seed heads and are leggy and spindly. Zinnias and cosmos especially become unattractive if left to their own devices.

Removing dead leaves and spent sticks is a weekly task to keep day lilies at their best.

I’ve noticed a couple of large plantings of sunflowers: one at Norton Farm on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and the other at Morning Glory Farm.

I am especially fond of the spent flowers and their ability to draw birds. The little goldfinches do seem to love the newly developed seeds. Often the dropped seeds are the forebears of next year’s crop.

I noticed my first tent of caterpillars on my heptacodium. Because I couldn’t find my sprayer, I sloshed some white vinegar on it. I confess I wore most of it and smelled like salad for the rest of the day.

I’ve had vinegar kill slugs before. It also helps keep a driveway weed free. It sure beats Roundup or as I call it “Agent Orange.”

It is sad that as a former Marine J.D. Vance chose to attack the service record of 24-year National Guardsman Tim Walz. It’s especially rich that his running mate dodged the draft with “bone spurs” to avoid serving in Vietnam.

As an aside, George W. Bush, another rich kid, got a sweet National Guard position thanks to Daddy. Historically, the Guard only serves at home and not in foreign wars. The Bush Administration’s war in Iraq was running out of soldiers to go to Iraq and Afghanistan. Bringing back the draft would be political suicide so W. called up the National Guard.

Walz had already put in his retirement request when his unit was called.

On another note, I only ever got one “D” in college in the soul-sucking class on beginning economics. The funny thing is, I can do arithmetic. Long ago, I figured out that paying interest wasn’t good for my personal finances. Therefore, the high interest rates of Jerome Powell do not affect me.

Also, I can see that DJT’s tariffs on China will only increase prices that ordinary American shoppers will pay. Do we believe that big corporations on either side of the world would absorb a price increase? Then again, I guess we believe almost anything if we hear it often enough.