I’m not one to complain about rain. Any day now it will be hot and dry with non-stop work so I’m enjoying the end of down time.

The gardens are exploding. The witch hazel has gone by but just in time the forsythia replaced it with more cheerful yellow. I have one that has spread to the size of a small house. I keep threatening to prune it but time, as is its custom, gets the better of me.

The crocuses are gone but replaced with scilla and puschkinia. Scilla, also known as Siberian squill, is a native of Russia and spreads like crazy. The deer hate it. Whoopee!

Puschkinia is a quill relative, and it is blooming alongside. There is a decent-sized patch of it on the side of the parking lot at the Martha’s Vineyard Bank. Check it out while waiting in the drive-thru.

Also breaking ground are the Virginia blue bells (mertensia virginica) a personal favorite. It reliably comes up every year with zero attention from me.

After last week’s column, where I talked smack about the Vineyard Haven post office’s whiskey barrels, now I feel sorry for the place. Last year’s planting of daffodils, which was very nice, seems to be under attack. I think skunks or some other varmints have been digging them up. Honestly, if it can go wrong, it will.

I’ve noticed honey bees hovering around little puddles of water. They are probably thirsty after a long winter. I wonder where they live? They can travel two miles so it’s anyone’s guess.

Also, a woodpecker is working on my sugar maple. He seems particularly interested in the spot where we tapped the tree last month. Can’t say I blame him.

I cut the calicarpa within an inch of its life. It was out of control. Luckily, it blooms on new growth. It produces beautiful purple berries in late summer. They’re inedible but very attractive. I think its common name is beauty-berry.

I hauled out an old jug of Bobbex and ran it through a strainer. It was downright disgusting. It should keep Bambi and his family away. Of course, this involves me applying it. Wonder if that will happen?

I have two health-related issues to share with my fellow old people. Probably years of running barefoot has resulted in a toenail situation (maybe a fungus?). About a month ago, I began painting them twice a day with a Q-tip dipped into tea tree oil. Remarkably, it has worked and I’m happy to report I’ll be back in sandals by summer.

Also, I’ve been driving for 63 years and one would imagine that I would know how to get into a car. But last week I threw myself into the dumptruck and nearly dislocated my hip. Apparently, one should sit first then swing both legs in at the same time. After a week of hobbling around on a shovel handle, I may have learned my lesson.

Speaking of learning lessons, I received my only D in my high school/college career in Introduction to Economics. We were required to read the Wall Street Journal daily (kill me!).

Nevertheless, I can do arithmetic, unlike our President. His harebrained ideas about tariffs are causing world-wide panic. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a cheerful attitude. Folks are greeting one another with: “Are we going to be okay?”