My Massachusetts home

Even if it means leaving Paris, Provence, or New York City behind, it’s always easy to come home to the Berkshires.

The amount of surrounding green and all the familiar faces sometimes overwhelms me, so I venture off the farm cautiously.  When I first got back from France I was content to stay home for a few days, sleeping and cooking and helping my mom to sew costumes for my sister’s middle school musical, Seussical.

But it wasn’t too hard to get comfortable again in the Berkshires.  I think my original trepidation had mainly been fear of having to succinctly explain how I had spent seven months away from home.  Once I practiced a little, however, I began to enjoy talking about my time abroad.  

There was a lot to do as soon as I got home.  My first weekend back, the Great Barrington Farmer’s Market reopened after its winter hiatus.  Because of a slow start to the season, lettuce was hard to find at any of the stands, and what produce was there bounded off the tables early.  Radishes were plentiful, but so attractive that they, too, were selling fast.  We made our rounds, stocking up on sourdough loaves at Berkshire Mountain Bakery’s stall, some of our favorite pasture-raised  beef from Leahey Farm in Lee, and tasting sheep cheese from the Battenkill Valley’s 3-Corner Field Farm.  As everyone knows, though, the farmer’s market is just as much about running into people and chatting as it is about the food; and we did our fair share of socializing.

It was good to get back to all things familiar after a year filled with the unfamiliar.  Making hay, baking pie, Memorial Day, Fourth of July–I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.

The God of Hay was cooperative, giving us beautiful weather to cut, rake, and bale by.

Memorial Day parade, Sheffield, MA.

Sam and Emilie came to the Berkshires for Memorial Day!

Main St. and the meeting house in Monterey, MA

June Rhodedendrons.

An afternoon hike along the Appalachian Trail.

Eliza and I visited all the important historical sites along the way.

The pay-off for the long walk: this spectacular view and chocolate strawberry milkshakes (not pictured here).

Golden Girl.

The view towards Jug End.

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