Embrace your eccentricity!

I posted today on Facebook that Spiro has declared me to be eccentric.  This came about because I showed him a new pair of sandals I purchased from Zappos.  http://www.zappos.com/keen-venice-h2-cactus-seafoam  OK...I know they're heinous, but my motives were pure.  I take Ares to the dog park and we have to cross a little stream- aka a creek if you're from Pittsburgh. Last week I crossed said "crick" wearing tennis shoes and socks and proceeded on a little hike in squishy, wet shoes.  That little hike motivated me to purchase these practical shoes.  I could have chosen a nice, safe brown, but I thought "why not pick a fun color...like green!".  

While weeding today I continued to dwell on the fact that I was labelled eccentric.  Am I ashamed? Nope.  I am embracing eccentric as many of my friends did in commenting on my post.  Life would be much too short if the name of the game was being normal or conformist or unimaginative or uninspired.  Yes- I am a "doctor's wife".  I can rock St. John's knits if I absolutely have to, but I am so much happier wearing gym shorts and a tee-shirt.  My garden is my place to express my artistic side.  It is a place where I can play with color, dig until I'm dripping with sweat, spend hours without knowing that they've passed and emerge dirty and triumphant at the end of the day- weeds pulled, plants in their places and a space so much prettier than when I began.

My garden simply makes me happy.  I have achieved a certain accomplishment in this space...to the point that numerous tours have come to check out my creation.  Attached is a picture of a visit from the Hardy Plant Society, Mid-Atlantic Region that swung my house (the little yellow place in the background) in their BUS a couple years ago.  When I told my children about the tour their immediate response was that a bunch of "loser gardeners" and their "really bad outfits" were coming by.  Turns out my kids were right...check out these sad wardrobe choices!

I LOVE the fact that my gardener friends don't give a crap about their outfits.  All of these fine people were so smart and so interested in my garden it made all of the bad polyester seem utterly irrelevant.  It was a truly eccentric group of people.  A group that I am proud to identify with... although a great pair of J Brand Jeans really would improve their quality of life!