End of the Summer Round-Up

It's the first day of September, and so for no particular reason I thought I'd do a round-up of all the things I learned this summer. Here are all the kernels of wisdom I harvested during the past three months:

1. "Kernels" + "Harvest" in a single sentence = abusively cutesy seasonal metaphor that should never be used again. (Okay, to be fair I just learned that five seconds ago.)

2. Jumping into cold water at the end of a long, hot run is the best feeling in the world...

3. ...Except for eating hot berry bread pudding with cold melty ice cream, which actually might be the best feeling in the world.

4. Despite what people are always saying about teens (they're self-involved! They can't write except in text-speak! They're all having crazy house parties featuring drugs synthesized from cold medicine and horrible, immoral acts!), the teens I've begun to have the pleasure to speak to are articulate, creative, kind, and deeply engaged with the world around them...and none of them appear to be on drugs! In your face, stereotyping. :)

5. You should never consent to be smaller just so that someone else can feel bigger; shorter so that they can feel taller; cheaper so that they can feel more generous, etc etc.

6. I love to write. No, really. I love to write. I love to create things in general, but I really love to write.

7. I also really love to read.

8. March 2010 (when my book pubs) is still really, really far away.

9. Portland, Maine is beautiful; as a corollary to that, no matter what is happening in life, it is impossible to feel depressed when you have a best friend to giggle with.

10. Cool Whip is really good, but not when you eat a whole tub of it in one evening. Then it's gross.

Some of these lessons may be frivolous, some of them may be petty, some may be profound...but that's the way it goes, folks. And trust me, it's just as important to know not to eat a tub of cool whip as it is to understand the value of a good friend--ignoring either piece of wisdom will leave you with a really gross feeling at the bottom of your stomach. (Another thing I learned at some point, but probably not this past summer--what may initially seem silly might actually be quite critical, and vice versa.)

Happy autumn...Here's to another season of Life Lessons, big and small. :)