We decided it would be nice to spend a couple of days in the Berkshires—pretty place, staff development days at one school, a tiny bit of work this direction and besides we got a good deal on a nice place to stay—and so off we went. The added and disconcerting bonus of walking around without nary a sweatshirt was unexpected (and lovely, let’s face, if we think no further than the day).
It’s also true that keeping a preschooler happy and a certifiable teenager happy is no mean feat. A couple of days are a good amount of time for togetherness right about now.
Two pictures sum it all up to me. One is of my husband’s grandparents’ summer place in Stockbridge, an old barn his architect grandfather redesigned. We took the five-minute detour to see it. None of the kids was terribly impressed, except of course the thirteen year-old, who liked the detour in retrospect—and the parents, who maybe did enjoy just remembering the place for a moment. The eldest recounted, “I remember her little dog yapping. I remember visiting her apartment and not being able to touch anything. I hated going there.” Ah, yes!
Maybe in another decade someone will want to drive by again.
And after supper two smalls peered in from outside to the spot where we’d been sitting in the wonderful restaurant Fin. Saskia ate sticky sushi rice for supper. Others ate very well indeed, faintly glimpsed through the reflection. There you have it, right?
