Last week I wrote about the great impact that certain teachers can have on our lives. That piece got me to thinking about the “teachers” we have all around us, even as we get up in years. We just have to be open to learning. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned over the past several months.

I have a kind friend who always gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. She looks for the best in people and never seems to bear a grudge. She can take the “Maybe Person X is just having a bad day” approach. She can say to herself, “It’s about that person, not me.” I’ve tried to learn by her example. That said, even though I’ve learned to cut people more slack, there are times when I just have to say, “No. I don’t want that person around me. Life’s too short to be spent hanging around negative people.”

My 8-year-old granddaughter wants to know everything about everything. If she sees or hears a word she doesn’t know, she’ll ask, “What does that mean?” Thanks for the lesson: there are always new English words to learn. Kindle is cool because you can tap on a word to get the meaning right then.

Some young friends visited recently who had been to a monster truck rally in Memphis. These are not, mind you, your monster truck rally type of people, but they had a blast doing it. I have no interest in seeing big trucks do flips, but it was fun to learn about their experience. Several years ago, I profiled a guy who drove in stock care races. I even went to Oxford Plains Speedway to conduct research. Let’s just file that event under “one and done.” But maybe there’s something else new I should try that doesn’t require ear plugs.

Tina and I recently did our morning loop walk in the opposite direction. It was like a totally different walk although we covered the exact same ground. Just a reminder that changing a daily habit can be good for the soul.

We’ve taken many of the popular walks in the area, but we’d never taken — let alone heard about — the Cliff Walk in Harpswell until my daughter-in-law, who was visiting from Seattle, found it on the internet. A fine discovery for us octogenarians.

I enjoyed watching the final of the Women’s World Cup between England and Spain alongside my 12-year-old grandson who’s a fine soccer goalie. He could answer all my questions about the rules and technicalities of soccer, which greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the game. Incidentally, that young man flashed the “L” sign (meaning loser) after he had prevented a key goal in a big game. He had seen a pro goalie do that move, and he was rightly admonished. The message? Not everything you see out there in the world is worth emulating. (Trump fans, take notice.)

Maybe, in fairness, knowing everything isn’t always such a vital matter. While taking the aforementioned Cliff Walk, we came upon two men who were looking closely at some interesting orange mushrooms. Apparently, one of the men had an app which might be able to identify the kind of mushroom it was. Did knowing the variety of mushroom enhance its visual impact. Maybe not, at least for me. That said, Tina would have noticed and commented on those mushrooms in a millisecond. I might have missed them, as my tendency is to keep focused on the goal. I’ve learned from her the importance of noticing what’s all around. Just noticing.

If you play Scrabble, you might know that xu and qi and jo and za and li are all legitimate plays. Quick now, to which of those words can you add an “s” and get a legitimate word?

I watched two of my grandsons engage in a tense game of chess. Sorry, guys, but learning that game at my age would be a losing battle. These same two young men and their parents had great fun playing Spike ball. The younger version of me would have joined right in. Learning a new word game or reading a new author is more my speed. The message: Keep your eyes open to new possibilities, but know your limits.

When Bowdoin College students arrived last week, I thought, “Boy, I’d like to be in college again knowing what I know now.” Alas, that’s not possible. But I can learn something by hanging around a few of them. That gift keeps on giving.

Maybe it makes sense to end each day asking ourselves, “What did I learn today?” If we don’t do that exercise, we might forget what it was.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com.

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