ask my friends: profile of ‘birdlike, neurotic’ me
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING, right? When you say yes to a friend interviewing you (and then she asks other friends for quotes)…well, a little knowledge results in a sweet profile laced with some hilarious one-liners. Read what my sister-blogger Paige Smith Orloff wrote about me in the current issue of Berkshire Living magazine, and how my close friend Andrew Beckman summed up my current state of affairs, post-corporate life: “She is more neurotic than ever. But she is also getting more in tune with her garden and the natural world.” Both Paige (who calls me “birdlike,” which I quite like, and says I live in my own “personal retreat and laboratory”) and Andrew (takes one to know one, dollface) are spot-on, of course.
Halfway done with the book? You shame some of the rest of us, at it much longer and only a third of the way there, if that, without 3 ongoing blogs. You are birdlike, perhaps. Maybe even neurotic. But a dervish of productivity. Kudos!
@Jane: Yes, but I am writing from my head, not having to actually do the amount of work that you do to pull your much-harder subject into focus for your much-bigger book. I think it’s a miracle either one of us has gotten this far, but it’s exciting to think that we have, and continue to hurtle forward on our parallel tracks, lo these many years later, huh? :)
Welcome, Lauren. I am glad that we have been reunited, and glad to hear of your great-sounding refuge of the patio. Do feel free to spend hours; we will all look forward to the extra company.
@Paige Orloff: Now as for you, Missy… :)
I just found your site today after rechecking an article I pulled from MSL (year?) about your garden. It inspired my husband and me to create a stone patio in front of my writing house (which Gorden built a few years ago but remained “floating” in the yard–how can I share a picture?). It is now a lovely spot! And I could spend hours here…what a gift you have chosen to share. Thank you, Margaret! Your site will be a guilty pleasure every time I’m stuck with writer’s block!
I stand by my adorable sources, and my lovable subject.
Magazines have always been a guilty pleasure of mine. But with the demise of some of my favorites (Country Home; Cottage Living) and the thinning of others, I have turned to online blogs for inspiration and information. Looking up former favorite magazine writers/gardeners/flea market stylers, I have been able to “reconnect” with some folks who feel like old friends. You, Margaret, via your blog, are among my rediscovered reading pleasures. How funny that so many seem to be in the upper Hudson Valley/ Berkshire area, not too far from my home in Saratoga County. Love the blog; hope to see the garden at Copake Falls Days in August. Do we need tickets? Reservations?
Welcome, Barbara. No tickets required, we are holding a free-for-all, literally (tee hee). I am glad to be re-found, too, so thank you for making the effort and visiting. And do so again, soon.
Wonderful article, looking forward to reading more about you in your book you have been buried in this summer.
You are the best.
Glad to hear that you are writing a memior. Looking forward to it. It was fascinating to read about the evolution of your garden. You have such as strong connection to a very special piece of land.
Welcome, Matthew. I promise, I am trying. Almost halfway there. But definitely backfill meantime with a few other books. :) Not ready yet!
Welcome, Georgie. Now you have me wondering what that mayoral hosta is, hmmm…always some puzzle to solve here! Glad to make things less daunting, which they should be, and glad to have you here.
@Helen: Tweet-tweet.
@InvisibleBees: What about a used one? They are usually in fine condition. You could check on Amazon and compare the prices.
I enjoy reading your blog. It makes gardening fun again and not so scary and intimidating. So many other garden writers make it sound overwhelming and unaffordable. As for favorite hostas-we have 15 different varieties here and they are all my favorites. One is from a slip a friend’s mother purloined near the monument to an Iowa mayor. I don’t know the proper name, but refer to it as “Mr..(mayor’s name).
I notice that you glide past “lithe” and alight on “birdlike.” Funny, sister, but so like a woman. I recently submitted a contributor photo for a travel article I wrote, with the comment, “It does make me look a bit like a chicken.” Birds of a feather?
Great article about you, Margaret! By the way: please step away from the garden and go back to writing your memoir. I need something FABULOUS to read, soon!
I envy your long-term relationship with your garden, Margaret. As someone who has moved around a lot (30 times in my 33 years), I’m feeling a very strong desire to find a property with land and energy that welcomes me “home.”
PS I am very much looking forward to the time when I get to read your upcoming memoir. What are the chances that A Way to Garden, the book, will be reprinted soon-ish? Borrowing the library copy isn’t satisfying enough.
Face it, we all love you! ;)
Margaret, I found this article strangely comforting. I came to gardening late in life, and it has become a hobby, an avocation, but not my life’s work. I’ve been very intimidated by the photographs of your beautiful landscape, which for many reasons (climate and time among them) I will never achieve. So I was happy to learn how much time, education, experimentation, consultation, endurance and sheer persistence was required to create your garden.