‘Mood’: Lessons From Teens at the Beach

“Aunt Anne, I have another slang word for you!” my niece exclaimed as I came down the stairs to the beach. Within two minutes, five teenagers who are in various ways related to me were circled around trying to explain a few more new slang words to me.

There are many pleasures to time on the beach in northern Michigan: reading a novel with your toes buried in the warm sand, a breeze coming off the lake; paddle boarding when the lake is calm, and body surfing when it is not; walking along the shor...