Dirt & Stripes

I was thinking about our garden adventures this weekend, and trying to calculate in my head how many hours I spent rolling around in the dirt.  At one point my stepdaughter, J.M., said, "Memoo (they call me Memoo), what are you doing?"  I was actually accomplishing something -- pruning hollies, spreading mulch, clearing dead branches, fertilizing. . . .  But it never occurred to me NOT to throw myself down into the dirt while doing those things.  Literally, on my front and back, rolling around.  So then I thought - wow, maybe that's not normal.  Fortunately I have a couple of friends in my life who remind me that it's OK to be a little odd.  Makes me think, though, of all the parents out there who tell their kids not to get dirty, or not to roll around in dirt.  Come on, moms and dads, it's fun!  Let a little unbridled energy flow!  I was also sad this weekend when I was repainting our old mailbox and suggested we add stripes -- both Russ and J.M. cringed like they'd never heard anything so dumb.  Come on, what's wrong with a striped mailbox?  Who says mailboxes have to be black?  I'm just saying. . . .