there's a tree in the middle of campus that whenever i see, i think of my friend lynn. each fall this tree is the first to change colors and each spring i think it's one of the first to bloom. lynn would always hope that the tree would keep its leaves until her parents came to visit over quad break (mid-october), but usually only one or two leaves would be left.
i have a favorite running spot along chebacco road. i discovered it on a run during my freshman year and still love to find it. i run the normal loop around coy pond and take a left through the woods. eventually i stumble upon chebacco road and after running less than .5 miles, i reach this lovely lake that is surrounded by trees and a couple of houses. usually i don't see anyone there and i pause my ipod and catch my breath while i stare across the lake. it's usually not very long, but i love that place.
there's a place called henderson's cafe that's right up the road in hamilton. it's next door to the place that i get my car fixed and i like to go in there while i wait. it's only open until about noon and all the locals go there for a cup of coffee and donut, or breakfast if they feel like it. the average age in that place is somewhere over 65 so i fit in perfectly :) i like listening to their accents. and i like the coffee, too.
on the fourth floor of the library on campus is a place called the alumni reading room. it's a nice big room that you can almost always guarantee will be quiet. it is in this room where i have had many moments of academic despair and humor
[despair] me, my computer, and chocolate wrappers before the 11 o'clock AM hour. eating my emotions? yes. (finals = desperate)
[humor] my friend Lisa and I sending ridiculous emails back to each other as we sit across from each other moaning over our political theory papers. then we dash out to the academic support center for the snacks and free coffee/tea they provide every year during finals week (such a terrific invention that i am forever grateful for).
i know my RD's apartment very well. it's there that me and baby em have traveled from laying on the floor to walking with her hands to the wall, to full-out walking around, no balance help necessary! we've traveled together through each of the three rooms -- we've played with the shoes and socks and then looked in the mirror at each other at least one hundred times. we've looked out the window and waved at people passing by, and we've eaten cheerio's together. i swear eating cheerios with a one year old is ten times more fun than eating them with milk by yourself.
there's a little study hang out place in our student center that is sort of cozy-dark with booths and wooden tables a fireplace. it's usually loud late at night but quiet in the mornings and provides the perfect place to study. that's where me and abby spent the morning before our intro to social work exams together, studying over cereal and bagels, while we quizzed each other and laid on the booth seats desperate for the exam to just BE OVER. right next to that booth is a little coffee service area where students can make you lattes and steamers. it's there that maris and i broke the happy news to abby that we were going to be living in a TRIPLE next year! we were so excited.
the window from my room is one of the most beautiful views you could see. the window is usually opened just a crack and right now i'm staring at it listening to birds chirping and watching the breeze move through the leaves. the view looks out at the pond and the trees that are a crazy-shade of green right now. sometimes i feel like new england changes over night - one day everything is bare and the next the colors are popping out everywhere. i can tell when it's raining when i see the rain drops make their circles on the pond's surface.
i think that places hold parts of us. or maybe it's that they remind us of things we can't remember on our own. they're random and sort of weird, but i'm grateful for them. and grateful for what they bring back to my memory.
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