I remember when I first...

I remember when I first learned the meaning of the word "edible". We were at the beach, sort of, the New Hampshire beach. The New Hampshire beach isn't a real beach, the water is too cold, the waves aren't big unless it's storming, and you have to wade really far out before its deep enough to body surf, and there's funny sea-weed. Really, the New Hampshire beach is about sand drip castles, digging big holes in the sand, and exploring tidal pools. The tidal pools are really the best part about the New Hampshire beach. Solid rock cliffs, great for climbing all over, and full of hidden pools - warm and shallow - to explore. Pebbles and sea-glass and driftwood and mussel shells. The tidal pools are the best part of the New Hampshire beach.

I learned the meaning of the word "edible" while we were exploring the tidal pools. We were pretending, what would we do if this was an island and we were trapped, what would we eat, "do you think this stick is edible?" I think Brianna was the one that asked the question, it was a root, long, thin, salt-bleached, and we wondered if it could be eaten. At least, that's what I think we were wondering, we were talking about finding things to eat, and then somebody asked "edible?" and so I assumed that "edible" means you can eat it. I've never actually looked the word up, maybe it means something else, but that's where I learned it. At the New Hampshire beach, exploring the tidal pools and pretending to be marooned.

I can honestly think of very few words whose meanings I consciously remember learning, and of those, most of them are not from looking it up in the dictionary. I read a lot, we had a tiny library at Mason, and I read every single book in the junior section. Thinking back, the library was so small that that probably wasn't a large accomplishment, but most of my vocabulary comes from reading the books in the junior section of the Mason Library. Lemony Snicket taught me lots of words, so did The Dark is Rising sequence, and I learned simile and adjectives from Brian Jacques.

I guess there really isn't a point to this post.