Almost nothing makes me happier than a couple days of decent rain following weeks of hot and extremely dry weather. I wish I could report some progress on those long neglected indoor tasks, but, alas, I literally did nothing and enjoyed every minute.

I took an ill-fated trip to the Vineyard Haven post office in the middle of the ambulance, police officer mishap. I cannot remember so much traffic. I will say there are some folks who simply do not play nicely with others. I wonder if they believe their misbehavior will magically cause the line of cars to move. Being stuck in traffic does give an opportunity to check out plants.

I need to give more ink this week to Morrice the Florist. They put out a couple of large urns recently. They have very nice arrangements of pink and white airy plantings. They have lovely white gaura. I believe the variety is called Whirling Butterflies. Some years ago, I worked for a woman who disliked what she called “precious” flowers. She only wanted those with big heads. I suggesting zinnias, to which she replied “they only belong in California.” I simply responded with “I did not know that.”

In front of Wolf’s Den Pizzeria on Beach Road, there is an impressive stand of blooming yucca. It’s very nice in bloom — the rest of the year, not so much. The spiky leaves are unattractive. I tried to remove one once on the property. I had to dig to China and parts of it still came back. I have the invasive perennial weed, creeping bellflower. It is a type of campanula. I have tried, in vain, to weed it out over the years. Nevertheless, it persists. Right now, it’s blooming and not terrible, so I’ll probably not make much of an effort to rid myself of it for, yet, another year.

In the vegetable garden, the garlic is nearly ready for harvest. I need to let it dry out from the rain before I pull it. It is always ready weeks before the onions. I’m a fan of spirea. They are several varieties. They fit in borders or as standalone. If they are sheared after blooming they will bloom again sometimes three or four times in a season. Some, like the Little Princess, make a nice hedge. Anthony Waterer is larger with dark pink blooms. Any of them are a welcome change from overused boxwoods.

There is so much news for yet another week. There were several rulings out of the Supreme Court. The worst in my humble opinion is the revoking of temporary protection for victims of the hurricane in Haiti. Those folks have established decent lives here and are contributing citizens. Our government suggests that none of us travel to Haiti given the unstable political situation. Gangs are taking over people’s houses and we are sending people back there?

So-called Christian Amy Coney Barrett has two adopted Haitian children and yet she voted with the majority to send people back there. It seems that every day there is a portion of the American electorate who are becoming just plain mean.