A line from Akhmatova: The hour of remembrance has drawn close again.

It does not seem, during the fall of my senior year, that this hour has ever left. The odd extensions of autumn, my exponentially increasing workload and a premature sense of nostalgia have led me on more walks than usual. Back to my favorite places I go, past my first-year dorm and classes of semesters past, back to remember discovery, in search of the fascinating memory of newness.

And so, this week, I present a list of my favorite discoveries: stone arches, bronze plaques and back-rooms of libraries, a liberally biased and eccentric collection of bests. Some are worth an hour, others an afternoon, others a passing glance. No epiphanies here--no discoveries in any larger sense; these are simply the facts of place, the bricks and paths and collections I have come across, delighted, in the past four years:

1. For reading in autumn: the round bench built around a tree in Radcliffe Yard. The gnarled tree offers an endless variety of back support, pleasant long after library chairs have been exhausted. Perfect for Thursday afternoons with a book.

2. For remembering childhood: the Pooh, Piglet and Rabbit doors hidden in the trees and bushes between the Science Center and Littauer. Pooh lives at the base of a tree; Rabbit and Piglet are across the path and a bit harder to find. An early visit--say, before 11 a.m.--often finds small children in strollers calling good morning to Pooh in passing, or leaving "presents" inside his wooden door.

3. For planning an exit strategy: the Mt. Auburn fire escapes. With spectacular views over the roof of Spice and over towards Holyoke Center, they are nonetheless the best backdrop Harvard offers for dramatic scenes of introspection in the style of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Also in the area: the Let's Go bathrooms, with the truest mirrors of any on campus.

4. For telling secrets: the whispering arch around the main entrance to Sever. This requires at least two people, some patience and low traffic. Especially good times to try are eleven and noon on Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

5. For conjoining planets: the Science Center observatory. Entrance requires a sticker of authorization or a friend with a sticker, but once inside, the dome opens, the tall creaking ladder slides loudly around in the dark, and the heavy telescope swings slowly on its ropes towards the tiny points of light. Best visited on a clear night when the moon is not too full, as its brightness will absorb everything else in the sky.