Unlikely Heroines and Newly-Sharpened Pencils

The summer is winding down, and would you be very upset if I admitted that I don’t mind so much? I find myself running my hands over the brand new notebooks on drugstore shelves and notice that the leaves on my street’s trees look more tired and less juicy than they did even a few weeks ago.

These summer days are long and indolent, tempting me to perch on park benches with a library book as the sun turns me bit by bit into a moist teacake, as Harper Lee would say. And I love it. I celebrate by