It really was beautiful, because a couple years ago — during summer school — I learned how to fix a flat tire on my bike. And, to the admiring amazement of my biking pal Gordon:
I disengaged the brake, pulled off the tire, used the tire tool to loosen it, flattened and removed the ruptured tube, checked the tire for any internal damage (which might ruin the new tube), partially inflated the new tube, put it on the rim (with care for the placement of the tube and valve), used the tire tool to reinsert the tire edge within the rim, finished inflating the tire, flipped the bike, and reengaged the brake.
It was very fun. I had all the tools, except a tire guage, which I will buy when I go back to my bike store tomorrow for a replacement tube.
Without summer school, I'd have had to walk home.
We were ten miles away on a hot, sunny, muggy day. It would have been a bummer.
I love summer school. The first summer school for me — in 1974 — taught me touch typing. I'm grateful to this day. It's my fundamental skill right here, right now, on Net Cotton Content.
What's for school?
A quick review of last year's curriculum suggests I was skipping a lot of class. Oh, well.
Here's what seems worth studying this summer:
- How to sell. I've always wanted to be better at selling. I've applied to a one-week sales training course this summer. They made me take a test and they say (1) my buy cycle is too long and (2) I'm not a closer. "Is that trainable?" I asked. "Oh, yes." So, if I get admitted to sales class, I'm going. More on that later.
- How to publish a book. I have three book projects underway right now. I really want to learn what it means to publish a book in this brave new world.
- Geography. I am sick and tired of not knowing which countries (and U.S. states) are adjacent to others.
- How to sing "Try To Remember" from The Fantasticks. I want to serenade my OSU Creativity Class at our first meeting in September.
- Memorize "Never Again Would Bird's Song Be the Same" by Robert Frost. The soul of creativity is in the air.
That's a short list.
Something else might get added. I think I will take another look at last year's list and try some of those again.
There's a longer list of things I understand how to do, but I need to drum up the motivation to do them. Write those books. Meditate. Exercise. Walk in the woods.
Just got to do them.
What do you want to learn — and do — this summer?