I may have mentioned this previously, summer is my least favorite season. It’s too darned hot! Plus, I’m usually a good sport about the traffic. I let people out, and give a friendly wave when the same courtesy is extended to me. This week, however, seems particularly busy. It’s downright frightening to drive through Oak Bluffs or Edgartown. Cyclists and pedestrians seem completely unaware of large metal objects coming at them. Perhaps we should consider rerouting traffic in the busy season and give people the street for walking and socializing.

The main task in the flower beds is deadheading and dead leafing. So many annuals are looking old and tired. Sort of like me.

I have three pet peeves concerning the freshening of perennials. All three involve spent sticks. Both Shasta Daisies and Echinacea become desperate for attention. People, please resist the temptation to snip the dead flower head and walk away. The stalk needs to be cut right down to the quick into the nice new baby growth. Trust me, those stalks will never bloom again.

Then there are the dismal remains of daylilies. The dead sticks can be pulled right up or maybe cut if they are still a bit fleshy. The brown sad leaves can also be pulled. A quick rinse with the hose will tidy up the area and look okay even without blooms.

The Vitex is lovely right now. There is one at the entrance to Mayflower Lane on State Road just past Lower Lambert’s Cove. They do bloom on new growth, so aggressive spring pruning is permissible.

Once again I allowed some zucchini to get too large. They are still good, however. I sauteed a bunch in olive oil and pureed them in the Vitamix. Luckily, I have boatloads of Mermaid Farm yogurt containers. They are a perfect size to receive the puree and stack nicely in the freezer.

My mother was an all-day-long spaghetti sauce maker. Once in a while she just blended the entire tomato without bothering to slip the skins. Those skins can be rather bitter if cooked forever. She, being a 1950s cook, usually added a healthy amount of sugar to counteract the acidity.

I decided to give the method a whirl minus the sugar. I blended up a colander full of paste tomatoes, and added them to some of the aforementioned zucchini puree along with garlic, onions and pesto. I splashed in a good amount of heavy cream and barely heated the mix. Violet and I then enjoyed what we call big plates of stress-relieving spaghetti. By the way, we never ate “pasta” in Rew, Pa. It was spaghetti or macaroni, plain and simple.

Hard to believe it’s Fair week. A good time will be had by all. It is always wonderful to peruse the Agricultural Hall and see the fruits of summer labor.

Are we doomed to hear about the Clinton emails endlessly? It’s odd to me after the kerfuffle over Edward Snowden. We found out that the government knows everything about us. Color me shocked. Those missing emails can be found by some computer geek in less than 24 hours.

It was acceptable for previous secretaries of state and governors to use private services.

I guess the Obama haters all move over to Hillary. After all, they’ve been going after her for decades. Something is bound to stick.