I’m back from Washington, safe and sound. I wish I’d had more time to actually explore the city. Things are always so rushed on my little trips that I don’t have time to do much.

In retrospect, this has been the best summer of my life, and I’m sad to see it come to a close in a matter of 10 days. I learned a lot about myself and other people in the past two months. The roller coaster ride has only begun, though. Senior year begins soon, followed by the sharp transition into college. And I know it will be a rough one, going from a small private school in the South to a large college elsewhere. I can’t even imagine the experiences to come, but I’m excited nonetheless.

There has been so much tension lately between one of my friends and her ex-boyfriend, which is just another testament to how things have changed. My ever-shifting relationships with my friends never ceases to surprise me, either. It’s hard to predict where we’ll all be in a year, or two, or ten. At this point, looking a month into the future is unthinkable. Nothing stays the same: friends grow apart, love dies, etc.

Staying up late forces me to think like this. I apologize if I put you to sleep. I’m off to kill a giant bug that just scurried across my bedroom floor. Thanks for reading.