These are a few of the posts I have marked as worth reading even years later, and if you can do so under a nice, shady tree that's even better:
-Ampersand's
Pure Merit, Pure as Driven Snow, an excellent discourse on independence and merit
-Ms. Lauren's
For Teachers and Educational Critics Alike, an expert treatise on education
-Jeanne d'Arc's
Easy Evil, a story about the coarsening effects of war on families
More of my recommendations will follow whenever I can't think of anything fun to write!