From Punk to Garden Geek

A few memories as well as some modern photos of Riverbanks Botanical Garden 30 Year Anniversary

Back in the ‘80s, our former military dorm had gun racks built into the closet, 12-man gang showers, a phone down the hall, and about a dozen country boys. At a college famed for its good old boy agricultural sciences, I showed up with pink hair and three earrings. Cows get that, but cowboys don't, so something had to give.

Nonetheless, we melded quickly into a group of brothers, and in Southern tradition, everyone accepted the other's peculiarities. Football player Ted gave everyone nicknames. Stew had the biceps to do handstands – he'd gather an audience for naked handstand displays. Lee, (aka 4- Toes) had shot his second toe off as a teen and could pinch hard with the remaining digits, which he often did in that shower room.. Clay watched us all like a big brother guiding his charges through their first acid trip.

But my David Bowie androgynous look and defiant attitude still made me stick out. I self-medicated with alcohol and road trips to Athens, which soothed the alienation but resulted in spectacular academic failure, complete with letters from Clemson to my parents threatening dismissal.

From Clemon year yearbook, 1986.

One day, at the end of the semester, observant and intuitive Clay pulled me aside, smiled, and gripped my bicep in a bonding way and said something like,