Sunday is midwinter, halfway between the first day of winter and the first day of spring, and in the Berkshires energy is stirring in performances like Vuyani Dance Company’s Cion, on college campuses and in the woods.
Read articleSpirits of the past — Tracing the Jenks family through 400 years (By the Way column)
Last week I stood on a hill where one of my ancestors stood 230 years ago. Christmas is supposed to be a time for ghosts. Between the old year and the new year, we have a few days out of time. Maybe that’s why so many Christmas stories commune with spirits. […]
Read articleThe Berkshires welcome winter solstice with firelight and evergreens (BTW column)
We have almost reached the longest night of the year, and for hundreds of years people have taken time for it around the world, and in the Berkshires too.
Read articleHow to bring home a living Christmas tree — By the Way column
I was looking out from a field across from the Pleasant Valley Tree Farm, up above Bennington, Vt. I had decided I’d like a Christmas tree this year.
Read articleSaving and scattering seeds to welcome Thanksgiving
The pods taper gracefully. They have a central rib for support, and a green-gold skin like corn husk. I have never seen the inside clearly before. This afternoon, in the melting snow, I am standing at the sloshy top of my backyard, scattering milkweed seeds.
Read articleForest bathing takes a cold plunge: A winter walk at Canoe Meadows
We finally had a day of sun on new snow. I’ve been waiting all winter as every snowstorm slid into rain and froze solid. This time snow fell at night and we woke up to fresh powder and a gleam in the evergreens, and I went for a walk at […]
Read articleMarmalade season brings Seville oranges on a cold day — BTW
Guidos Fresh Marketplace has Seville oranges, so it’s marmelade season. I stopped in the other day and got some for the first time in years, and on Tuesday I cooked them while I transcribed an interview about modern dancers who move like saplings. The jam gelled beautifully too. Seville oranges […]
Read articleHoliday music warms the Berkshires in midwinter — BTW column
Winds in the reeds lift a clear tone in longing for home — a heartbeat Last year, on a snowy day, we heard a solo harp. Students sang a medieval carol and a modern one by Richard Wilbur, our former poet Laureate and former Berkshire voice in the hills, and […]
Read articleContemporary sculptures gleam on a winter morning at Mass MoCA
This morning, I came to hear the Mass MoCA winter season announced — art and events across the next few months, leading up to William Kentridge’s residency in May. He will come with a troupe of more than 50 performers for a two-week residency and performance of his in-progress work, The Head and […]
Read articleA Mughal artist tells the story of the Magi in Persian perspective
On a winter afternoon afternoon, a painting stands at a meeting of worlds – an Adoration of the Magi inspired by Persian and Mughal miniatures at the Williams College Museum of Art.
Read article