July 18-23 Mark in Bridgewater

     Mark left Pittsfield and went up to New Hampshire to empty our storage unit. 

Then, he drove back to Concord where he spent the night. The next morning, he picked Jecca up from Hanscomb Field.

    He spent several nights in a motel near Bridgewater and spent time with his family - mostly cooking. Michael and Nancy arrived in their new Tesla, a happy coincidence. Michael and Mark took Cal to the foot doctor one afternoon.

    Mark and Barbara met up at the end of the trip at Ted and Bev's where Mark spent 2 nights and Barbara spent 1, having spent another night at Diane's before heading homeward. We got on two separate boats on the 25th. 

      

 July 18-23, 2021.  A week at Laurel Lake.

     Barbara drove from Pittsfield to Schenectady to visit Diane. What a surprise to find most of the Robusto-Smith families there, including Jerry from France. It was a wonderful, heart-warming family day.

Bob, Linda, Jerry

Diane, Mark, Maureen, Jerry

    The next day, Barbara and Diane drove to Binghamton, stopping at the food store first. Both bought an ample supply of Speidi marinade! Then - off to Laurel Lake.

    The weather this year was not as warm as other years and there has been a lot of rain, so the lawn was spongy.

     The Gerchman cottage undergoes improvements every year; this year it had a new roof and went from barn red to a more reserved grey. Inside, there was more sheetrocking upstairs.

      One day, Jerry kayaked over with Tina Smith which was very nice. Another day Cindy and Barbara circumnavigated the lake.

      On a day that was supposed to rain, we picked up Gail, Cindy's sister and we spent the day in museums. We started with Roberson which had some wonderful exhibits about Binghamton's history as well as art exhibits. We also toured the Roberson Mansion. 

     After that, we toured the Bundy Museum on Main Street. Bundy was an engineer who patented time machines for workers to punch in on; he later sold to Watson of IBM. The house is very interesting with amazing architecture. In the old carriage house is a coffee house, a blackbox theater, old barber shop chairs, a room of time clocks and also a room dedicated to Rod Serling who grew up in Binghamton and was encouraged by English and drama teacher, Helen Foley when she was young. (And, we had her many years later in high school!) After that, we went to the Garage, a hip bar and at nachos outside.

     One night Gail and Lynne came over for dinner which was also fun.

Lynne, Gail, Cindy, Diane

     On the day that we left, we met Jerry at the Park Diner in Binghamton.

     

 July 14 - 17, 2021

    We left on the early boat, Mark in the truck and Barbara in the Clarity. 

    First stop - Bridgewater to see the folks. 

   Second stop - Pittsfield to stay with Nan and Jim. We always have a great time and endless topics of conversation. They just lost their wonderful Great Pyrenees, Boo, who lived on island for several years.

    The first day, we visited the Chesterwood, the home of sculptor Daniel Chester French where Jim worked when they first moved to the area. We had a tour of French's studio, checked out the museum and walked the grounds. (The house is closed right now.) It was fascinating to see how cleverly designed the studio was in catching the light properly. He had a little rail system in the studio upon which he placed his sculptures to see how they looked in natural light.

  We spent one day going to Hudson, N.Y. to go to a Lowe's where Mark and I worked with a man about renovating our kitchen. Jim was a big help, of course. Then we went into Hudson for lunch and we walked along the river front on the river which was a place Nantucketers whalers settled, becoming a major whaling port. It is strange to think of a whaling port so far up river.

    Then, we went to lunch at the Red Lion in Lenox, eating in the back garden. The hostess shared that customers are so rude this year that every day one of them cries. (There is a shortage of wait staff and restaurant staff around the country.)

    We went to Shakespeare and Company in their outside, new Spruce Theatre to see King Lear with 84 year old Christopher Lloyd. Our seats were in the sun which was hot. (Mark moved to the shade for a bit.) But, then, just after intermission, there was a thunderstorm and we had to evacuate and wait to see what would happen. The show moved inside, but many people had already left, partly due to the wait. And, honestly, partly because the production was disappointing. Christopher Lloyd's voice was hard to hear, for one. We all agreed that it was not a great show, but were, I think, glad that we stayed.

     On the 17th, we went to a morning lecture and open rehearsal in the Shed at Tanglewood. The talk by BSO Director of Program Publications, Robert Kirzinger, was about Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn and Mozart. 

We did not know about the talent that Fanny Mendelssohn had and how she was discouraged by both her brother and her father. We heard her "Overture in C" which is her only extant orchestral work. We heard Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 in D, Opus 107, known as "Reformation." The lecture explained the roots of the work, based on a Methodist hymn and what to listen for. Finally, we heard Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G with soloist Gil Shaham, an amazing soloist who plays all over the world. He was playing a Stradivarius. The BSO was conducted by Andris Nelson. It was interesting to have the conductor stop and start the orchestra, have them repeat portions of the pieces. It was also interesting to see the orchestra in their street clothes. It was a terrific morning.

   We went to a wonderful dairy farm for delicious ice cream. (I've forgotten the name.) But, we will visit it when we go back to Lee in early September, for sure.

    In the evening, we returned to Tanglewood, again in the Shed to hear the BSO play Prokofiev's Symphony No 1 in D, Op 25, known as "Classical" and Brahm's Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13. Of course, everyone in the orchestra was now all dressed up for the performance. It was greatly enhanced by the jumbotron so we could see the individual players. This was the first weekend for Tanglewood because of the pandemic and they did not sell all the seats, to keep with social distancing.

    The guest artist for the Brahm's was pianist Daniil Trifonov. He was very intense with hair over his eyes and little eye contact with the conductor. The concert notes included that he and Andris have worked together on other occasions, and you could feel that. We have never seen a performance like that. Trifonov's performance was incredibly physical with him up and off his seat and sweat dripping off his head. It was riveting. He got a lengthy standing ovation and came out and played again, a piece that Nan has played, so it meant a lot to her. W were all very blown away and felt privileged to be there.

     

Two Weeks Holiday, July 2021

    This summer we are mostly staying on the island. For one, we have two grandchildren here working and we want to savor these moments. Secondly, we sold the N.H. cottage and don't have that to visit any more.

     However, we took 2 weeks in July to go off island. We went in separate cars as we were together the first part of the holiday, went our separate ways for about a week, and then met back up.