We were away all week wreaking havoc on the mainland, so I missed a couple of important items that were scheduled for last week’s column. Town clerk Tara Whiting sent her “undying gratitude” to the candidates for town offices, as well as all of the poll workers who helped pull off the town meeting and election.

Right after we got off the ferry, we rushed over to the Empty Bowls fundraiser at the Grange Hall. Missed the soup, Holly Wayman on flute, and David Stanwood and Glenway Fripp on piano, but we caught a little of the magnificent Dock Dance Band and got to see some familiar faces. That little party raised more than $30,000 for World Central Kitchen, which serves hot meals to Ukrainian refugees. The Ag Hall is amazing, but I still love the Grange Hall best of all for gatherings: it’s a little more intimate and you can get to that good-crowd feeling without having a thousand people inside.

Driving and cycling and walking are dreamy pastimes these days, as our roadsides are bright with spring flowers. If you feel like basking in even more local color, there are about 20,000 bulbs in bloom at Polly Hill.

This spring, whenever I’ve stopped by Melanie and Coco Paniore-Vento’s house deep in deer country, I’ve noticed several rings of short stakes in the flower bed by the front door. The mystery was solved the other day, when I saw some beautiful tulips, coming up strong within their wooden cages. Melanie said that after they lost every flower last year, Coco was determined to thwart the deer, even if it meant surrounding the plants with stakes that somewhat obscure their beauty. She calls it “tulip jail.” We recently lost all our own tulips yet again, so maybe we’ll have to try that trick in the future.

Come to the West Tisbury School’s presentation of The Wizard of Oz this weekend! I myself once played a munchkin on the very same stage, and am looking forward to this show. Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

On Monday, public health nurse Lila Fischer is at the library for a free drop-in Wellness Clinic. No sign-up needed! Come get a blood pressure check.

Speaking of blood pressure, the building inspector has nearly a thousand inspections on his calendar over the next year. In West Tisbury. Just let that sink in.

We had ourselves a little fire off Lambert’s Cove Road this week, sparked when an osprey dropped a branch on a power line. Did you even know we had to worry about that? Luckily, there was a sharp-eyed human nearby to witness and report this craziness, so the fire department could swiftly extinguish the flames.