Summer skin

Well, summer is definitely in place on campus. It's dead, dead around here. People are taking weeks-long vacations and long lunches. The only folks you see around are high school students at the summer writing program and international executives here for training in the cotton industry (strange combination, I know).

The high schoolers just arrived yesterday. You can tell the difference from the college students because these kids are cleaner-looking and more passionate. They're here to write and make grand proclamations about themselves and Their Views. They're full of nervous, peer-pressured energy. They want to fit in even more than the freshmen at the beginning of fall semester.

I say all this with a good deal of sympathy, because I've been there. It's just interesting to recognize that kind of vibe from afar and have a vague stirring of memory. I'm glad I'm 31, and mostly comfortable in my own skin. Except when it's hot as hell, like it is today.