Nonnie, my maternal grandmother, lived long enough to see me have children. She was an avid letter writer. I received one every month after I left Rew, Pa. She lived next door my whole growing up. She usually tucked a couple of dollars into the envelope.

She always began her correspondence with elaborate descriptions of the weather. I was kept up-to-date about the rain, and whether there was a nice breeze on a hot summers day. In winter she would tell the exact hour the snowplows began working in the middle of the night.

We never had snow days from school in Rew, no matter how many inches fell overnight. If it was a terrible storm, the bus drivers put chains on the bus and off we would go — down Rew Hill to the area high school.

Where, you wonder, could she possibly be going with all of this? I realize I often start my column with the weather. Now I remember why.

Will we ever get rain? NPR mentioned yesterday that the entire state is experiencing a drought. Both dairy farmers and cranberry growers are suffering. I know these beautiful beach days are great for you vacationers but I’m rather cranky.

Nonetheless, the weeds are giant in my gardens. I can no longer pull some and practically need a chain saw to remove them. They are hogging all the sun and watering.

The good news, however, is the discovery of two (count ‘em) soccer ball sized Moon and Stars watermelons. One was hanging over a wall about to tear the vine. I had to gently ease it onto the ground.

Watermelons are ripe when the little tendrils on the stem turn brown. Other melons, such as cantaloupes or honeydews, will release from the stem when ripe. Check every day since the moment of perfect ripeness will attract every known varmint from miles around.

I take Violet to her cello lesson every week near the Oak Bluffs fire station. There is a spectacular trumpet vine across from the entrance to Webaqua. It’s worth a drive-by.

I made an error in judgement a few weeks ago. I planted carrots and added some radish seeds to “mark the rows.” The radishes are so enormous now that the carrots are completely dwarfed. I replanted a couple of seed packets in another area. Oh well. Errare humanum est.

Sun Gold tomatoes are a big hit. They are extremely prolific and usually the first ones to ripen. I love making a sauce with them. They are very sweet. I’m not crazy about their tough skins so I put them through a food processor and use the sauce immediately. Do not allow any sauce which has skins to cook for long. It will become bitter and/or too acidic. This is the reason for removing skins from any tomato you plan to can or simmer for any length of time.

My garlic crop was disappointing this year. I could have been more consistent in my watering. There is plenty of it but it is very tiny. Each bulb is smaller than a ping-pong ball. It will still be tasty but a real pain to peel.

I love how people keep saying that Hillary is the lesser of two evils. I, for one, am fond of less evil in the world. There is so much about Donald Trump that I am at a loss for words. Me being at a loss for words is a rare event.

It is remarkable that no matter what he says, he still has passionate supporters. I am concerned about him being the guy with his finger on the button. Are we in a Dr. Strangelove situation?

The most alarming fact in this whole affair is that there are no checks and balances on a Presidential decision to launch a nuclear attack. I’m old enough to remember ducking under our school desks during air-raid drills. Remarkably, some of the adults actually believed lives could be saved. Ex KGB agent Putin and Trump at the helm — yikes — Putin will have the Donald for lunch.