Tell us about a favorite tradition. It could be a family tradition or from a holiday, university, you-name-it. What makes it so special?

There are a few “real” traditions in my life.

Coffee cake on Christmas morning. Crowding into a house by the lake on Christmas Eve. Chinese food and rented movies for New Year’s.

But my favorites are the traditions that develop without anyone noticing. Ones that slip into the fabric on their own, instead of waiting to be woven in. Unengineered traditions, you could call them.

Like having more copies of National Lampoon’s Vacation around the house than any human ever needs, because my dad likes buying my mom reminders of their first date.

Like mom noticing, usually at the last minute, that we’re all wearing sorta nice clothes that sorta coordinate, and corralling us together for a Christmas card picture in July.

Like the hill a short walk from my freshman-year dorm, the one that overlooked most of campus and the crumbly, sparkly buildings downtown. Like sitting there and not reading, just thinking and being home.

I love all the miniature traditions of my changing day-to-day routine. Loved walking down King Street and half-smiling at the hippies stretched out on the sidewalks, and smiling at their dogs and their guitar cases, too. Loved breaking for lunch in my favorite lonely parking lot in Lenoir. Love dusky evening walks down to the train, especially tonight, because the wind whipped almost cold on the almost-first day of fall.

Making traditions is wonderful, but my favorite are the kind that happen to you.