The End of Summer

August 2011.

The day after tomorrow, my seventh-grader sees the end of her summer as school starts up again. 

Today, in anticipation of all that, we decided to harvest the onions we've been growing in the flower boxes out front. She pulled them out of the soil, clipped the roots, cleaned off the dirt and washed them.

Then we sliced them and sauteed them in olive oil with canola spray, dusted them with salt and garlic powder, and served them over white rice with seaweed, butter and soy sauce.

Such small domestic tasks, for her and me, cement the rare days when we are alone together. 

This afternoon, we walked the dogs around Bernal Hill. We passed a mail truck on the way down. I explained to her the difference between UPS, USPS and FedEx.

She told me that until recently, she had never noticed the arrow in the FedEx logo. That gave me an excuse to go into one of my talks about her future.

She wants to study art and to become an artist. Her portfolio of drawings is growing; I often proudly share bits of her work with friends.

But, of course I worry about what choices she may make. Being an artist does not strike me as a sustainable future in an ever-more difficult economy.

And I don't think 12 is too young an age to discuss practicalities, particularly since she shows signs of having a practical streak. Evidence of that includes her bank account, which due to her many small jobs like dog-walking is more robust than anyone else’s in the family.

So what I chose today to talk about when she mentioned the FedEx arrow was the role artists play in branding for companies. I explained how designers come up with concepts like colors and symbols and branding icons, such as arrows or the Nike swoosh.

"Maybe that's how you can pay your bills while you pursue your passion for art," I suggested, hopefully.

That might sink in, who knows. Each of our conversations of this type is loaded by my awareness of our age differential (51 years). My ability to exert influence over her choices has to be expedited just in case I am not around to still be her consultant when she really needs one.

I just hope she remembers we talked.

(2025 Note: The girl in this story is now a 26-year-old artist who has sold several paintings and other pieces. She is also working on her Master’s Degree in industrial design.)

HEADLINES:

• Trump deploys National Guard to Washington DC and pledges crime crackdown (BBC)

• Trump to take over D.C. police, deploy National Guard (WP)

• The President’s Police State (Atlantic)

• Kash Patel Accidentally Tells the Truth to Trump About D.C. ‘Crime Wave’ (Daily Beast)

• Anas Al-Sharif became the face of the war in Gaza for millions. Then Israel killed him (CNN)

• Israel steps up Gaza City bombing (Reuters)

• Trump’s Cartel Order Revives ‘Bitter’ Memories in Latin America (NYT)

• Trump’s new congressional map in Texas still stymied as Gavin Newsom urges president to give up (AP)

• AOL set to pull the plug on iconic dial-up internet service (ABC)

• Canadian Road Trips to US Plunge for Seventh Month (Bloomberg)

• Goldman Says Consumers Will Soon Feel More Tariff Pain (PYMNTS)

• Supreme Court formally asked to overturn landmark same-sex marriage ruling (ABC)

• Could the U.S. Have Saved Navalny? (WSJ)

• Canada Is Killing Itself (Atlantic)

• Berkeley’s radical rag celebrates its 60th anniversary (Berkeleyside)

• Trump Deploys National Guard To Press Conference For Standing Ovation (The Onion)

• The GPT-5 rollout has been a big mess (ArsTechnica)