Folks, there are people who know me who are often shocked at the fact that there are things that I do that they wouldn’t fathom that I would do.

For example, they seem to think that I wouldn’t be into gardening because it involves manual labor, and dirt. There’s no way someone who spent most of her childhood in cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles or San Diego would be remotely into playing in the dirt.

Funny thing is when I was growing up, I love stories about farm life. I just didn’t like the smell of manure. I gag every time I catch a whiff of animal poop.

I read this quote online about how “a different version of you exists in the minds of everyone who knows you,” and I will write an essay about this in the near future. But, it got me thinking that there’s a truthfulness in this philosophy. The way I see myself may not be similar to how I exists in the minds of the people I know.

Example #1: I started to develop a love for gardening in my mid 20s. I became fascinated with flowers and what can be grown in Alaska. I even took a course about peonies, and I have been obsessed with them ever since. From there, I became fascinated with growing my own vegetables in a garden. And, this fascination evolved into attempting to grow plants from seedlings. My first attempt were lemon seeds. The lemon tree are currently in a large pot indoors (I am hoping they survive). Then, I decided to take an avocado seed and test that as well. My little avocado tree is currently attempting to survive indoors. My fascination continues to expand, and I become quite giddy at the start of the spring season in Fairbanks.

This year it felt like spring was never going to get here. The damn snow took forever to melt, and the weather started to demonstrate a propensity for bi-polar behavior. We had days where we woke up to snow–and it was already the first week of May. Old Father Winter kept giving us the middle finger keeping Ms. Prissy Spring at bay.

But, not today.

Today, the Babies’ Daddy and I decided to spend our Saturday morning running around town. We hit Blue Roof Bistro for lunch first, of course–before deciding on visiting only one plant nursery: The Plant Kingdom located on Farmer’s loop road. We decided to only hit one nursery so that we can pace ourselves, and not go home with trunk full of plants. However, it seems even our local co-op market was featuring their baskets of plants, and herbs. The thought of the possibility of snow at the end of the month prevented me from going overboard. Yes, in Fairbanks that’s a great possibility.

This time of year, I am often found searching for inspiration on how to design the garden boxes. I now have three: one for vegetables, one for the strawberries, and one for the herbs.

Jesus Christ. There are moments where I wonder: what happened to that chick who preferred to spend her days as a lazy ass reading a book on the couch, and avoiding any sun exposure because she did not want to nurture a wrinkle?

She’s still there, and she comes out whenever the hell she feels like it.

But, not today.

Today, I wanted to nurture the inner granola hipster that is slowly evolving within me. So, the Babies’ Daddy indulged me (as he does each year during spring time), and carried some garden and grocery loot.

And, just to confirm, I don’t mind playing in the dirt. You’ll find me wearing hunter boots (to preserve the pedicure), and friggin’ gloves (to prevent messing up the gel nail polish). You’ll never see me in crocs, though. They have a tendency to make me look like I have hobbit feet.

Maybe one day, I’ll wear them when I move to the Shire.

But, not today.