A couple of us were complaining about the hot, humid weather in Vineyard Grocers. Mark, the manager told us that Oman on the Arabian peninsula just set the all-time highest low temperature – 109! Dear God. Then the front page picture on Sunday’s New York Times was more of the fires out West. California has not had a month without a fire since 2012.

There is plenty of time to look around what with all the traffic.

There is a nice arrangement of thunbergia in the large box in front of the Oak Bluffs Black Dog store. Thunbergia is a good choice for trellises. It It blooms much quicker than Morning Glory and flowers all day long.

I’m impressed with the field of buckwheat on the left side of South Road right before Blue Barque Road. Across the street on a stone wall is a nice yellow trumpet vine.

I use buckwheat in empty vegetable beds. It is great bee fodder and will reseed the following year in paths. It is a soil improver. It can follow winter rye.

I’ve said many times – nature is grand. There is a single cleome flower growing in a sidewalk crack in front of Island Entertainment. I love that!

My vegetable garden has once again gotten away from me. I can barely keep up with picking and eating. I know this is a quality first-world problem for which I am honestly humbled. At any rate, I can never figure out how weeds can outgrow a plant by four times. Some are actually shoulder high, for Pete’s sake. A sturdy shovel is the tool of choice for some of them.

I gave the cabbages a dose of BT a few weeks ago and have not seen a cabbage worm since. However, they now are covered with what could be tiny slugs or perhaps snails that have yet to develop a shell. I’ve never seen this particular critter before. It is orange with a soft shell-like covering. It’s always something!

I did plant my fall crops of beets, carrots and lettuce. Also, since they only take 50-some days, I planted some more green beans. We still have enough warmth for them way into September.

I saw a letter to the editor of the New York Times that struck me. Indulge me as I repeat the main points.

Ten things about which most Americans can agree: We deserve a president that tells the truth. Cabinet members should be advocates for their agency. Americans want clean air and water and believe in climate change. Every citizen should be encouraged to vote. No child should go to bed hungry. Canada and Mexico are not our enemies. Russia is not our friend and is trying to undermine democracy. The press is not the enemy. The tax cut benefits corporations and the wealthy, not the middle class. Children belong with their parents.

In closing, I have to voice my ongoing resentment that me tax dollar (to the tune of $112 billion) is being used to subsidize farmers because they don’t like Trump’s tariffs. Let me remind them that many of them voted for him!