That was some serious wind last weekend. Sadly, it stripped all the beautiful reddish-orange leaves from my sugar maple. The good news, however, no real damage was done on the property and we did not lose power.

As I write this, I’m in the standby line trying for an earlier boat. I’m headed to a dreaded dentist appointment. I’m looking at some impressive costs and am going to be irritated if I die before I get my money’s worth.

I’m noticing the solar panels on the T-shirt shop opposite the Steamship Authority ticket office. They are due-south-facing with no trees blocking a fall day’s sun. I’m jealous as my own are east-facing with the November sun lower than some branches. The Steamship Authority could benefit from some on their south roof.

I did want to mention the lovely lespedeza. A member of the pea family, it is sometimes called bush clover. It is a fountain-shaped shrub that flowers this time of year. My late friend, Fala, has a few on the stone wall of her Skiff avenue home. There is a large on at Polly Hill. Since they have a legume ancestry, they are good for the soil.

In the vegetable garden, thanks to my daughter, the beds soon to receive garlic have been weeded and turned over.

The most annoying critter news is that I dug a small amount of pathetic sweet potatoes. They fell prey to some sort of rodent who made its home amongst the prolific vines. They must have enjoyed them for a couple months.

I’m usually a snob about the pruning of various shrubs. I criticize the globe shapes of forsythia and/or azalea. I am not unhappy with folks who plant burning bush here and there within their privet hedges. The bright red fall color in an otherwise green hedge is a fun change. In other vegetable news, I took stock of what remains in the garden. I’m leaving carrots in the ground for a while (perhaps most of the winter). They become very sweet after a few freezes. There is an entire bed of celeriac. That is on my next-to-do list. They store well over the winter in peat moss or sand with the tops removed. Those tops can be used in stock.

I’m still waiting for a significant freeze to kill the bugs on my kale and collards. Those crops can be picked all winter. In the meantime, Ghost Island has beautiful kale. Rusty grows it under cover, so aphids and cabbage moth cannot bother it. By the way, his Halloween display has, once again, weirded me out. Haha!

While still on the food theme. I need to talk about the food stamp situation. Let me wax partisan briefly. For years, Republicans have used the same old, tired and boring attack on government assistance, saying young, able-bodied people are living the good life in their mother’s basements getting free food from my hard-earned tax dollars. I call B.S. on that, but nonetheless, most recipients (other than elderly, disabled and children) actually do work. They work for giant companies, i.e. Walmart for minimum wage and cannot afford their lives.

In other words, we are subsidizing giant companies so they can pay low wages — in other words, the real welfare queens.

Don’t even get me started about the Great Gatsby-themed Mar-a-Lago party. Back briefly to food stamps. We are talking $6 a day in benefits. That could purchase three beets.