She’s wading knee-deep in the meadow, and the sky moves in her eyes. She’s standing among friends on an open hillside below the Taconic ridge …
Read articleYou can’t stop the beat — #Berkshireweekend
High point in the last week? We’ve had so many as summer hits the Berkshires, even in these chaotic days. Scarlet, my first summer intern, has been getting me out to explore …
Read articleTerrance Simien swings with Zydeco on Junteenth
The washboard is flicking a quick carrying beat that shakes through you and pulls you to your feet — the accordion is rocking warm, and a low voice coasts over it, laughing …
Read articleWhat does it take to surprise you with pleasure? (#this weekend)
An accordion player started to play Quebeçois reels, the kind of music I learned to play at fiddle jams 15 years ago …
Read articleBright Half Life weaves a love story through time
We’re on a ferris wheel in 1986, and it’s dusk, and two women are sitting close together. They’re holding hands and talking over the bolts rattling in the wind … and they’re in a long and deep relationship.
Read articleIzhar Patkin honors poet Agha Shahid Ali in light (throwback)
On a spring night, Izhar Patkin’s ‘Veil Suite’ fills the long gallery with rooms of translucent paintings, illuminating Agha Shahid Ali’s poetry.
Read articleLily Cox-Richard melds land and community
Ceramic fire pots slope against the brick, imprinted with patterns of leaves. Last summer in the Berkshires, people gathered around them on warm nights …
Read articleMass MoCA shows look toward a new future
Last summer in Southern California, a group of friends made bowls in their back yard, and two days later they hardened them in a wood fire while the clay took on a patina from the smoke …
Read articleExpeditions for a sunny afternoon
The eggs come from a farm stand smaller than a chicken coop, and I almost missed it. The sign caught me as I was bowling south down Route 7 — shagbark hickory syrup …
Read articleNew local shops spring up in North Adams
I keep hearing about new places in North Adams lately — offering everything from baked goods to books to begonias — so I’m taking a walk through town.
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