Emily Dickinson is more than I knew. The metaphysical recluse in white is a hurt, outspoken, ardent woman in a smock the wind can blow through.
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ArtWeek Berkshires is here in full colors
Murals and wood-fired ceramics, Japanese Shiburi tie-dyed cloth, graphic novels and living walls — the county is filling up this week with events and shows and painters out in the open, in ArtWeek Berkshires.
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Olsen Farm feeds the community
Kristen Tool and her husband, Chris Wheeler, keep six hives near a massive apple tree that has lived here, like his family, for a hundred years. They are building contemporary ways to support their family farm — and food systems and food security in the Berkshires at the same time.
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Writers warm up with festivals in early fall
“Despite a strong midday sun, the road was all green shadow thanks to trees thick and tall as a god’s fingers. My old block trees were like zoo elephants — one or two specimens stunted by a cement habitat. But this chaos of greenery had my heart calling dibs.” Quiara […]
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‘Hello, Bookstore’ film appears at BIFF
This week the Berkshire International Film Festival will screen Adam Zax’ new feature film about Matt Tannenbaum and his family, and the community that has carried the Bookstore through the pandemic.
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Wild Soul River brings healing into Williamstown
On the corner of Cole Ave and Hall Street in Williamstown, the old general store is now a gathering space and an ‘abolitionist herbal shop.’
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Exploring Cummington and the hilltowns in summer
It’s quiet up here. Sometimes I’ll come up to the ridge to get away for awhile, out the back roads … and find unexpected and creative places.
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Wing and a Prayer wildflowers glow in high summer
I’m up at Amy Pulley’s native plant nursery on the ridge in Cummington, and it’s transformed in July into a sea of meadow flowers …
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It’s a beautiful morning — I think I’ll go outside for awhile (May 19 newsletter)
The earth felt cool and damp, and the sun was warm on the church steps, and I was holding a clump of bergamot in my arms. Last Saturday, the Hilltown Seed Savers held a plant swap and exchange …
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Berkshire Botanical Garden opens in spring
Trees that looked bare five days ago are shaggy with seed pods, and in the Berkshire Botanical Garden, magnolias are shedding petals. I love seeing things from the inside while people are working in their everyday clothes.
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