Mama and Daddy's Big Day Out

On July 3rd, Jamie and I left Duncan in the capable hands of Kristina and Alisa at Housatonic Child Care Center and ventured to Stockbridge. We stopped in Great Barrington for caffeinated beverages and discovered that there is no open public restroom at 8:30 in the morning; luckily, McDonald's is just down the road. Then we hit the Berkshire Botanical Garden. If you've never been there, I highly recommend it. It doesn't begin to compare to the New York Botanical Garden or Longwood, and it won't take an entire day, but it's a nice place to spend a few hours. We hadn't been there since we were scoping out wedding sites (summer of '98?) so it was nice be back. Currently, they are hosting an exhibit from Mass MoCa, most of which I enjoyed. There's also an exhibit of birdhouses, which are available for sale but also artfully displayed throughout the gardens. We had lunch at a nice pub, whose name escapes me, and then drove a few miles up the road to the Norman Rockwell Museum. We've been to NRM many times, but there's always something new to see. This time, there were a few studies and sketches on display we hadn't seen before. There's also a current exhibit of all (save 2) of the Saturday Evening Post covers that Rockwell painted. What I enjoyed the most at NRM was the Garden Gates exhibit. It reminded me a lot of Tilly and her spiritual approach to art and nature. The whole concept of the garden gate as a passageway into another world conjured my memories of all the dirt roads Tilly has been painting lately. (Okay, I swear she WAS painting dirt roads like crazy before she started doing dirt bikes or motorcycles! Go back a few entries! Time really has gotten away with me.) It was a lovely way to end our day out. I haven't uploaded any photos from the day yet, so if you're reading this pictureless, check back to see some of the garden and garden gate photos. They may be lousy since the day was overcast, and I have yet to find a photographer friend to help me shoot in these funny light situations, but we'll see. At least you have the links to get you to some better pictures. I felt rested, relaxed, and reconnected when we picked up Duncan that afternoon (even in the midst of our sleep crisis) so I'm very thankful we made the decision to send Duncan to daycare one day a week. Stay tuned to see what we have in store for this coming Thursday.