I did the assignment every year - every single September.
Within days of returning to the classroom - still sporting the summer tan, but wearing a brand-new skirt and saddle shoes - my teacher would ask me to pull a pencil from my desk.
She'd distribute pieces of foolscap to me and my classmates, and ask us to be quiet and to put on our back-to-school faces.
And then she'd tell us what to do.
"Boys and girls," she would say. "I want you to write me a story. One page, double-spaced. Your title will be: How I spent my summer holiday."
From year to year, my story was pretty much the same. Had a Kool-Aid stand, I'd say. Went on a ferry with my family. Played kick the can. Ate watermelon. Taught the dog tricks. Had a fight with my best friend and didn't speak to her for two whole hours, but made up and had a sleepover the very next day.
Read two Nancy Drew books, I would write. Took swimming lessons. Saw a bear. Went to the PNE. Got some new shoes. Stayed up until 10: 30.
Had the best-ever time. And once, at age 10 or 11: tried a tomato for the very first time.
I haven't written the assignment, oh, for the better part of a lifetime. But I'd rather like to try it again.
Ate watermelon, I would say of the summer almost past. Saw four bears.
Bought new shoes. And a bird bath. And some red shoes and a blue bathing suite and the cutest little summer shift.
Played bocce, and lost. Played badminton, and won.
Grilled steaks and corn on the cob. Made salsa, and ate 42 too many tortilla chips.
Tried an oyster for only the second time - and liked it.
Shelled peas, and ate them raw.
Had no Kool-Aid, but drank plenty of dry white wine while sitting on patios in White Rock and Vancouver and Whistler.
And in my own back yard.
Cast an HST ballot. Had a visit with my best friend, but didn't have a fight.
Went swimming, thanks to the lessons I took when I was a kid. Bypassed the PNE, but took in a ball game in Seattle.
Went to work without a coat, because that's what you do in the summer.
Potted tomatoes, and watched them turn from green to pink to red.
Read some books and played some rummy and squinted in the sun.
And yes, I would tell my teacher, if I happened to have one now, I had the best-ever time.
I love the fall, don't get me wrong. But there's magic in home-grown tomatoes.
