It had rained overnight, yet again. As I sat on the porch, the morning light stretched beneath branches and dappled the ground. The sky grew more blue by the minute. Then the downpour started — large drops; heavy rain. It only lasted about 10 seconds, but even more remarkable than the short duration was its…

Where I grew up, there were not a lot of options. The only school was the public one designated by your address — private schools were fifteen or more miles away. While there was a foreign language requirement, the only languages offered were German and Spanish. There was no football team. The fire department was made…