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The Ash Cloud
Miller’s pond is a local pond where Miranda and her family swim, skate, and socialize. After the events of the moon impact and resulting natural disasters, Miller’s pond remained an oasis for Miranda. While the public pool has closed, she can still practice swimming at the pond. Later, when it freezes, she spends days ice-skating there. Going to the pond is one of the few freedoms that Miranda is permitted as the disasters and restrictions escalate. It’s at the pond that Miranda connects with friends from the swim team and develops a short-lived romantic relationship with Dan. During the winter Miranda records that she spent the day skating with her hero Brandon Erlich, but she later questions in her journal whether or not it was a delusion. The pond thus represents an idyllic version and reminder of the world that no longer exists.
Miller’s Pond Quotes in Life as We Knew It
The Life as We Knew It quotes below all refer to the symbol of Miller’s Pond. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 15
Quotes
I’d dream of Paris, of London, of Tokyo. I wanted to go to South America, to Africa. I always assumed I could someday.
But my world keeps getting smaller and smaller. No school. No Pond. No town. No bedroom. Now I don’t even have the view out the windows.
I feel myself shriveling along with my world, getting smaller and harder.
Related Characters:
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Get the entire Life as We Knew It LitChart as a printable PDF.
Miller’s Pond Symbol Timeline in Life as We Knew It
The timeline below shows where the symbol Miller’s Pond appears in Life as We Knew It. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...filtered. After they run through several failed scenarios about where they could practice, Miranda suggests Miller’s Pond , and the team agrees to meet there the week after next. The journal entry...
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Chapter 6
...still insists in her journal that nothing is going to stop her from swimming at Miller’s Pond .
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...Miranda puts on her swimsuit and sneaks out of the house to go swim at Miller’s Pond . Dan from her swim team is already there, and the two of them spend...
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June 16-17. Miranda meets Dan at Miller’s Pond , where they kiss and swim. Laura picks up the family mail at the post...
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...has been unrelenting and electricity scarce, so Miranda spends as much time as possible at Miller’s Pond with Dan and other members of the swim team. She has mixed feelings about their...
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...be grateful for what she has: for each morning she wakes up, for swimming in Miller’s Pond , “fake dates” with Dan, and dreams about pancakes.
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...later figures out how to make bread with some yeast she’d forgotten she bought. At Miller’s Pond , Dan and Miranda have alone time to kiss and hold hands. Hal calls and...
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After swimming at Miller’s Pond , Miranda and Dan accompany Laura and Mrs. Nesbitt into town. While Laura is getting...
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...says that if she is, she’s never allowed to see him again, or go to Miller’s Pond , or leave the house alone. Miranda responds that her mom doesn’t trust her and...
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Miranda invites Jonny to come with her to Miller’s Pond and he excitedly agrees. Seeing him play and have fun makes Miranda realize how little...
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Chapter 8
...their plans—especially the boiling of water before drinking. He suggests that Miranda stop swimming at Miller’s Pond because he’s scared people will be using it for bathing and wastewater, and it will...
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...get up the nerve to ask her to prom, and how much their time at Miller’s Pond meant to him. They kiss good-bye and Miranda compares their situations—the pain of losing and...
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Chapter 14
October 24. The temperature reaches 29 degrees and Miranda decides to go skating on Miller’s Pond . She arrives to see that world-famous figure skater Brandon Erlich is also there, and...
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Chapter 15
October 26. Laura has sprained her ankle again, preventing Miranda from going back to the Miller’s Pond . Miranda can’t decide if she truly saw and skated with Brandon Erlich, or if...
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...Evanses’ well runs dry. They’ll have to rely on bottled water, or cutting ice from Miller’s Pond and boiling it. And without water, there’s no reason to use up the heating oil...
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Chapter 16
...finds a set of colored pencils to give Matt for Christmas—and by going skating at Miller’s Pond . Miranda enjoys the time alone, and questions whether or not Brandon Erlich was ever...
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Chapter 18
...out very quickly, but the prospect of building endurance and being able to travel to Miller’s Pond and skate cheers Miranda.
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Chapter 20
...special dinner. Miranda thinks of Dan briefly on Valentine’s Day. Miranda makes a trip to Miller’s Pond to skate and has a wonderful time.
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