The Berkshires in the fog





Well, the hot weather was clearly over and some more crisp fall temperatures had arrived. My shorts that I had put on optimistically in the morning got quickly changed on one of our first stops back in Massachusetts and I allowed myself to put on some 'fashionable' white socks that I could sneak out of the suitcase quickly in the black sandals. Geeeez what tourists are wearing these days ;)

We had the choice to go back in time in the historic village park of Sturbridge or in the Hancock Shaker village...the latter became our choice, curious who those Shakers really were. Cruising along in the old barns and schoolbuildings and general store etc, I was reminded of Fort Steele in the Kootenays. Such buildings always make me think to walk around on the set of shows like "Road to Avonlea", "Anne of Green Gables" or "Dr. Quinn Medicine woman". I just see the women running around with their big skirts, hanging up the laundry to dry together or baking big pies while man with straw heads work the lands. It all looks such romantic settings but that's probably neglecting the lack of comfort that would kill this modern generation. Just imagine...they didn't even have blogs in that time ;). Those Shakers are quite interesting though, definately not a very "commercial" religion if not they would have allowed marriages producing children in their communities and not depending only on new converts to fill their communities. Nevertheless they seem to have been very successful for a long time.






Our ride north through the Berkshires and then our drive along the Mohawk Trail did get spoiled a bit due to a heavy fog that came down from the top of the hills (and also because ALL access rouds to Mt Greylock turned to be closed ...for 2 years for roadworks !!! 2 years ... could they not do 1 road at a time and keep the access to the summit open?). As a result, the probably magnificent view we were supposed to have around the hairpin turn and the summit east of North Adams on the Mohawk Trail appeared to us as a big grey white wall. We saw nothing at all. At that point I was happy enough to see the lines on the road just in front of us to make a safe descend again. Fortunately the valleys still had a clear view and we can imagine the stunning beauty that will be revealed in the coming weeks when all the fall colours are out on the trees!


Our hunger for historic well-preserved villages was not fed enough so in the evening we had another nice evening walk in historic Deerfield as well. Yihaaa another filmset like environment where my imagination could be released.

Comments

Jen said…
OH!!! You were right where DH and I lived when we were first married - just a couple miles from Historic Deerfield. And that whole area was my old summer stomping grounds.

You and Jan are certainly putting the miles on...

And I loved Shaker Village when I was younger. It certainly is a fascinating place.

Popular Posts