After watching national weather news, I am so grateful for the amount of rain we have received in the last few weeks. The wildfires in the state of Washington are horrifying. I saw where they charged a person with starting them. What is possibly wrong with an individual doing such a thing? Don’t bother answering, because the answer is everything!

Last week’s column had the typo preening in place of pruning P.G. hydrangeas. I had to look up the actual meaning of preening: “cleaning feathers with a bill, dressing up carefully, or feeling very proud of oneself.”

It pays to increase your word power.

The perennials Rudbeckia and echinacea are making quite a show. Big-headed flowers are crowd pleasers. Speaking of big — how does a zucchini get so overgrown in just a few days? Sometimes I sauté and blend as soup additives but, honestly, how much soup can a person consume?

My old friend, Tom Chakis, who is now living in Greece told me that nothing is ever wasted. I’ve been smashing the huge squashes on trees in the chicken yard. They love them, especially the seeds. I figure I get an egg out of them eventually.

I also have a few cucumbers that should have been harvested sooner. I throw them into the blender with other smoothie ingredients.

Cabbage worms are enjoying the broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts. Again — more chicken food. If cut back all those crops will come back beautifully in a few months.

I am looking forward to a fall garden since the summer crops are getting away from me. Keep an eye out in the lettuce patch as any day now the “gone-to-seed” plants will reproduce.

Years ago, Craig Kingsbury gave me a few clumps of bamboo. Yikes! It has taken over a couple of areas. There is now plenty of material for garden stakes and fencing. The good news is that much of it is in the chicken yard. I think it has kept the birds safe from hawks over the years. I may have made that up, but I’m sticking to it!

With the nationwide outbreak of a parasite causing illness, now is the time to seriously shop for fresh produce at many of the local farm stands. It’s probably more expensive, but what is the cost of safe food?

I watched the unhinged interview with Dana Bash of CNN and RFK Jr. Honestly, the man is insufferable. He spent much of the interview yelling at Dana. The rest of the time he, like Republicans in the Senate recently, spent blaming Anthony Fauci for everything bad during Covid — six years ago!

Correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t we have a President suggesting we inject bleach and to stop testing so no one would know about the cases? Of late, I confess, I’m wondering if we are actually going to be alright!