When I think of heat waves,

Dimond LibraryMendum's Pond

I automatically think back to perhaps one of my most formative summers as a young man--the summer of 2001. I remember the summer of 2001 because it was so hot in fact--it was a scorcher. But I also remember the summer of 2001 because I had just graduated with my BA, I was working for UNH Upward Bound as a tutor counselor, and I was spending my first summer with the woman who would later become my wife. That summer was a tough one for us--we each had intense jobs that kept us from often seeing each other during the week; my UB job was virtually 24 hours a day, and Amanda was working two jobs--one of them being outdoors at a farm (was it Woodman farm? I cannot remember...). True, it was one of those really crazy summers that now, ten years later, can be looked back upon with fondness and nostalgia....but, I would say, it was also really magical while it was happening. It was chock full of small, "slice of life" style moments that in turn create a mismatched, mottled set of memories. I was living on Edgewood Road still (technically....but I really lived in Sawyer Hall with a bunch of smelly adolescents), and went there for weekends to unwind. I bought my first "road-bike" that summer (it is still up in the attic above the garage, and I think I will turn it into a single speed soon) from Durham Bike--an old, blue Myata bike, and I thought it was the awesomest thing ever. I paid 150 bucks for it, and I hardly drove my truck at all that summer. About three times per week, I would ride that bike down to the Durham town pool, which, to my mind, is the best place to swim in the world. It was an outdoor pool, but it was also like a pond. It wasnt what we think of as a conventional "pool." I'll try to find a picture. Anyway, Amanda and I would meet there and swim laps, and it refreshing not only on a physical level, but also a spiritual one. Weekends that summer were spent almost exclusively at Mendums pond--a place I easily consider one of my top five favorite places on the planet. UNH owned this beautiful spot, and in the falls, as a member of the sailing team, we tacked all over the beautiful lake. On summer weekend days, Amanda and I would go, pick blueberries, look at loon nests, and swim to our heart's content. And on weekend nights, the UB staff and I would sneak in after dark, sit on the docks, drink 40s, and try to even comprehend how many stars there were in the sky.

But I think my favorite memory from that summer would have to be the quietest one--the Dimond Library at UNH. It was one of the few air conditioned spots on campus as far as university buildings went, and they had just completed a HUGE renovation to the building the year before. Dimond was full of nooks, crannies, alcoves, and secret spots for studying. The basement of the library was by far the coldest, and Amanda and I had this sort of "unofficial" game where one of us would get there first, stake out a spot in the cool library, and wait for the other one to try to "find" the other one. Countless summer nights I would find Amanda, hunkered down in an over sized chair, reading or journaling. And I would sit beside her, reading John Updike or Antoine de Saint Exupery. And we'd hardly talk at all in the cold library. But it was okay.