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I once heard someone tell a story about turning left. They said that they had gone straight hundreds of times and were never curious about what was to the left. One day, they were forced to turn left. The storyteller emphasized that they never would have turned left if road construction had not forced them.
I remember this story as I turn left onto a road that is new to me. I do not understand how someone could drive past a road for months and never think about going down it. Today, I am turning left onto a new road simply to see where it goes. I have driven straight and I have turned right. Today, I turn left. I drive for several minutes through a residential street that turns into a country road. There are no roads to turn onto. After a few minutes, I start to feel anxious. I don’t want to drive for half an hour. I know I’m not lost. The road only goes straight. To get back, I only have to turn around. Yet, because there is no place to turn around, I feel scared. I feel trapped. I feel like I don’t know where I am. I see an abandoned gas station, but I am going too fast to safely slow down and turn in. I continue to drive, reminding myself that I only feel lost. The truth is, I know exactly where I am and exactly how to get back. I see a road to the left in time to slow down and turn into it. There are no other cars, so I make a 3-point turn and drive back the way I came. This time, I recognize landmarks and the familiar part of town appears quicker than I expected. When I get home, I look at an online map. I find the country road, then the road where I turned around. I trace the country road farther. After several miles, this small road connects to a larger road. I have driven on this larger road many times, but on another section. I went exploring today. Now I better understand how the roads in my town and the surrounding areas connect. That makes me feel confident and like I belong here.
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For some people, a smell will remind them of their childhood. I have thought about this a lot. I don’t have any strong scent associations with growing up. My mother used a moisturizer with a unique scent that I have not smelled since the product was discontinued. Otherwise, I feel left out.
I read in books about pancakes being the smell of Sunday mornings or maybe Wednesday was spaghetti night and the house always smelled like tomatoes and garlic on those evenings. I don’t have memories like that. One day, at a writing group, we were given the prompt “smell.” There was no other context. I started thinking about my lack of scent-based memories. Then I realized that I do connect one scent with some emotions. I grew up in a deciduous woodland. I spent many hours playing in the woods behind my house. My parents also took me on hikes in other woods. The woods smelled like damp soil and decaying leaves. That description makes the odor sound unpleasant. To me, the smell represents life because all that water and compost allows trees to grow large and have many leaves. The smell also represents adventure and freedom. When my parents took me hiking, that was an adventure. Playing in the woods behind our house was one of the few times I was allowed to be without adult supervision. Being in the woods gave me freedom. Now, as an adult, the smell of a moist hardwood forest makes me feel adventurous and free.
One Saturday, I went to a writing group at the public library. Someone new was there. I thought she looked familiar. She didn’t seem to recognize me, so I didn’t say anything.
After the writing group, some of us went to the ice cream shop. The woman and I talked for a long time. We enjoyed each other’s company, but it did not seem like we had met before. The next afternoon, I went to a different meeting. A woman walked up behind me calling, “Jill! It is you!” I turned around and saw the woman from the writing group. She had thought she recognized me, too, but had not wanted to say anything, either. After that experience, my advice to you is: if you think you know someone, go ahead and say something to them. If they are not who you thought they were, then say, “well, nice to meet you,” and talk about something else or walk away. If they are who you thought they were, then you will have a connection in more than one way.
All butterflies are moths. Most people think that butterflies and moths are different types of insects. Scientists say that butterflies are specialized moths. Most people think that butterflies are colorful and moths are drab. The reality is that moths can be colorful.
Comet moths live in Madagascar. They are yellow with red or pink markings. The io moth lives in North America. It is yellow with red markings and a large black spot on each back wing. The rosy maple moth also lives in North America. This moth is pink and yellow. Its colors remind me of fruit sherbert. The giant leopard moth lives in North and South America. It is white with black, blue, and orange spots. Some butterflies are drab. They are mostly brown or gray. The gray hairstreak butterfly lives in North and South America. It is gray with red or orange markings. The hackberry emperor butterfly is brown with black, cream, and orange markings. It lives in North America. The question mark butterfly lives in North America. The outside of its wings are gray and brown, but when it opens its wings, you can see orange with dark spots. What is the difference between butterflies and moths? It is easy to find lists of differences online. Unfortunately, these lists are not completely accurate. The truth is, the difference between moths and butterflies is what culture has decided. Scientifically, they are the same. CEFR Level A2-B1 One day, I went into the new ice cream shop to get a milkshake. There was a family there with a little girl and a young boy. The man scooping ice cream was grinning and making silent eye contact with the children’s mom.
I saw him hide his hands behind the counter and put a birthday cake candle into the ice cream. Then he lit the candle and joyfully presented the cone to the little girl. She blew out the candle and happily started eating her strawberry ice cream. Her mom told me that it was the girl’s birthday, so I asked the girl how old she was. She held up four fingers. “Four! That’s an exciting age!” I exclaimed with more energy that was necessary. Her brother walked up and announced, “I’m five.” “Five!” I said enthusiastically, “That’s also a very exciting age because next year you’ll be six and last year you were four!” The children wandered around the shop while I wondered what had happened to me. Why couldn’t I talk to them like a normal person? I sounded like I had turned into an excited puppy. What I said to the children didn’t even make sense. Why is it exciting to be four or five? Did the boy know how to count well enough to understand what I said? When I got home, I texted a friend who has young children. I asked her if it is normal for adults to act unnaturally excited when talking to young children. She said that it is normal. She assured me that preschooler-aged children like it when adults act overly enthusiastic when talking with them. So now I know. I’m normal if I act strangely when talking to young children. CEFR Level B2-C1
I turned 40 without learning to drink coffee. I grew up in the United States where everyone drinks coffee. Despite this, I liked hot black tea with milk and a few granules of sugar. If hot tea was unavailable, I would drink sweet tea, a common drink in the US South. Sweet tea is also called iced tea. One day in the spring of 2025, WaWa opened in my town. To advertise their opening, the convenience store mailed coupons for free food and beverages. One coupon offered a free hot latte. I decided to try it. To my surprise, I enjoyed the latte. That started a craving for hot, sweet, coffee. This craving lasted a month, but I could only afford one $2 coffee each week. I experimented with the ratio of coffee to sweetened creamer. Soon, I discovered that I prefer hot coffee and creamer with just a little sugar. About a month later, I went on a trip. I tried the coffee at the hotel restaurant. It was bitter and reminded me of why I disliked coffee. I experimented. I filled my mug ⅓ full with hot cocoa, then added coffee, topping it all off with vanilla-flavored creamer. Thoroughly mixed, this beverage tasted and got me through an exhausting week. Back at home, my craving for coffee was broken. I returned to drinking hot tea. Still, I know that I can drink coffee. This is a relief because I want to fit in wherever I travel. Maybe I will never be able to drink black coffee without milk, but surely drinking some type of coffee opens up social opportunities that I would miss if I drank no coffee.
What is hiking? Hiking is walking in wilderness. Hiking is different from walking in nature. Walking in nature suggests minimal to moderate effort. On a walk, the paths are wide and smooth. They may even be paved. On a hike, the trails are narrow and rough. There may be tree roots or large rocks to climb over. On a nature walk, you may hear road traffic or see signs of human activity, like buildings. On a hike, you feel far from civilization. On a hike, you are unlikely to hear traffic or to see barns or other buildings unless they are in ruins. On a nature walk, you know that if you get hurt, help is not too far away. On a hike, if you get hurt, you’ll probably have to get yourself out or wait a long time for help to come.
A hike is also usually longer than a walk in nature. A walk tends to last for an hour or less. A hike tends to last for an hour or more. On a walk, you may not bring water, food, or first aid supplies. On a hike, you will bring these things. In American English, the word “hiking” suggests a greater level of physical activity than the word “walking.” “Hiking” also indicates that the activity takes place in a wilder area of nature than when we use the word “walk.” CEFR Level B1-B2 A quick browse through fashion content gives this message: Wear what you want. Fashion influencers for women over 40 seem to especially declare this, except for when they’re explaining how to dress to meet conventional expectations.
I agree with the “wear what you want” message. I do, however, think there’s a missing perspective. Or at least, a perspective that I haven’t discovered yet or that gets overshadowed. Our life situations can affect what we feel comfortable wearing. This seems obvious, but I think acknowledging it can get lost in the body-positive, no-age-restrictions messages. Here is my story. I have always felt bright and slightly unconventional. As I write this, I am wearing a neon green mesh top and a cobalt blue mesh skirt. I have double helix piercings, two sets of lobe piercings, and my lip color is bright pink. Earlier today, I was wearing six rings and 2-inch hoop earrings. I love dramatic winged eyeliner and I don’t care if the angles don’t match perfectly. A decade ago, I started my first career job. Even on my days off, I dressed conservatively in subdued grey and dark blue. In that job, even on my day off, there was a chance I would run into a client. I felt most comfortable if I answered these questions when deciding my outfit for my days off:
Those questions may not be fair. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to ask these things. People would be able to compartmentalize and recognize that all people are multi-faceted humans, regardless of their jobs. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people are judged by how they look, even in their time off. That reality meant that for 10 years, I tamed the true expression of my sartorial self. Do I regret that? No. Making those choices gave me more confidence in a high-stress job. Am I very happy that I no longer work in a position where it feels like all eyes are on me? Absolutely. Do I still sometimes dress conservatively? Sure, when it makes me feel confident. All this to say, if you, too, make clothing choices based on your circumstances, and those choices don’t reflect the true you, I commiserate. There is only so far haircuts and accessories can take you. Moreover, in some communities, personal clothing choices are closely monitored. Deviating from accepted norms has intense relational fall out. I get it. That’s a hard place to be in. At the end of the day, this is my addition to the “be yourself” conversation: Don’t feel like a sell-out for doing what you have to. Don’t resign yourself to nothing ever changing, either. The wonder of being human is how flexible we are. This year, we comply. Next year, we resist. To be human is to grow, change, adapt, and rest. Let that be true of your fashion choices, too. |
Some Beyond the Beginner podcast videos are from posts on The Variety Page.
Some Variety Page posts have been edited to be suitable for audio content or for ESL learners. Those are posted on this page. |
Jill Hames is a writer, musician, biblical studies teacher, and ESL tutor who finds life too interesting to pick a niche. She has a B.A. in Music and Spanish, a Masters in Library and Information Science, is TEFL.org 168-hour certified to teach English as a second language, and is working towards a Master of Divinity. Jill is a member of Delta Omicron and the International Women's Writing Guild.
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Copyright 2025
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Copyright 2025