There is so much talk around energy consumption these days. It is hard to know whom to believe. We know we want to cut back our addiction to foreign oil. Should we risk more offshore drilling? After Fukishima, nobody is feeling confident about nuclear. There is no such thing as “clean coal,” not to mention the horrible practice of mountaintop removal. The wind farms bring up an entirely different controversy. On land there is the vibration and flicker effect and certainly offshore has its opponents. What are we to do? It has to start with each and every one of us.

If every person made a small effort it would have huge benefits. Remember Jimmy Carter in his cardigan sweater?

I, for one, am a big advocate for line-drying laundry. Honestly, I have never owned a clothes dryer. Give it a try. Your clothing will smell great and will have the added benefit of bleaching from the sun. You will need to purchase fewer products to have cleaner clothes.

There is so much spring happening that it is difficult to focus on a few things.

The bleeding hearts in front of Fiddlehead Farm make a strong statement in North Tisbury. Speaking of fiddleheads, I saw an elderly gentleman harvesting some along North Road the other day. I never knew they were edible until doing restaurant work in the early 1980s. Growing up in Rew, Pa., the only wild spring crop was leeks. I think they are known as Appalachian ramps. People would be sent home from school for eating them. They caused such an unpleasant odor. The boys ate them to get out of school activities on purpose.

Last year I started some asparagus from seed. Somehow the seed tray was lost in the weeds last spring. I found it recently with tiny asparagus growing happily in less than an inch of soil. Why, I wonder, do I bother with composting, fortifying and transplanting when things manage just fine on their own? I have had day lilies, hostas and lily of the valley live after spending the winter upside down in the woods. Go figure!

Violet and I have been amused by the tree wearing a sweater on State Road just past the lower entrance to Lambert’s Cove Road.

Last week I inquired about the garden and stand at Nip ’n’ Tuck Farm. Betsy and Freddie’s daughter, Prudy, is in charge this year — a capable young woman. It should be successful.

Like clockwork, a pair of Baltimore orioles arrived just as my apple trees were in full bloom. The chickadees did not seem willing to share whatever they both love about those blossoms.

Thanks to Chris Gompert, now living in Washington state. I received an entertaining card from him this week. It’s amazing how many people off-Island enjoy this paper.

I rarely, if ever, attend the movies. My friend and movie critic, Sharlee, keeps me posted. I simply cannot tolerate the violence, subject matter and weirdness of most films nowadays. Anything involving injustice, wrongful imprisonment, serial killing, child abuse, bigotry, war, or man’s general inhumanity to man is completely unacceptable to me. In this vein of thought I must compliment our President’s decision not to release the photographs of the dead Osama bin Laden. Those who doubt the event will not be convinced anyway. They believe what they believe notwithstanding any factual material.

Thankfully, the rest of us will be spared. I hate it when pictures stay in my mind. I have a great imagination, which will suffice.

I’m no wimp when it comes to death. After all, I’m Irish and no stranger to wakes.

While on this subject, I do believe bin Laden got what he deserved, but it was disturbing to see our rejoicing in the streets over the death of another human being, however flawed.