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5.29.11
This is an Archival Site
There is now a new Rogovoy Report home



5.18.11
Weekend Preview May 19-24
Bob Dylan tributes, Deborah Voigt, Tom Paxton, Bill Kirchen, John Kirk and Trish Miller



5.18.11
Celebrating Bob Dylan's 70th Birthday in Style
Paying tribute to the greatest rock songwriter ever



5.17.11
FILM REVIEW: In a Better World and Of Gods and Men
Review by Seth Rogovoy



5.17.11
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5.12.11
Deborah Voigt Headlines Mahaiwe Gala
Opera star to sing arias, show tunes on Saturday, May 21



5.15.11
Famed Spiritual Teacher to Speak on Nonviolence
Mother Maya in free talk at Sruti Yoga in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday May 20 at 7pm



5.12.11
Special Effects Wizard to Be Honored by Film Festival
Doug Trumbull to be Feted by BIFF



5.11.11
Weekend Preview May 12-16
Cultural Highlights of the Berkshire Weekend



6.4.09
Talk about a small world
Elaine and I grew up together, but only just recently met....



5.8.11
Berkshire Living to Cease Publication
A Farewell from Publisher Michael Zivyak



5.8.11
twiGs Branches Out
Lenox boutique launches new e-tail site



5.8.11
[MUSIC REVIEW] Avalon Quartet in Close Encounters at Mahaiwe
Review by Seth Rogovoy



5.8.11
[MUSIC REVIEW] Avalon Quartet in Close Encounters at Mahaiwe
Review by Seth Rogovoy



5.7.11
[FILM REVIEW] Bill Cunningham New York
Review by Seth Rogovoy



5.7.11
[FILM REVIEW] Bill Cunningham New York
Review by Seth Rogovoy





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Autumn Sonata

10.1.05
It’s really no contest—autumn is my favorite season, hands down.

I like everything about autumn in the Berkshires. The weather is the best of all the seasons. The days are comfortable; not too cold, not too hot. The nights are always cool and mostly dry, making for ideal sleeping weather. You don’t have to bundle up too much yet before going out, but a light jacket or sweater is typically called for, as are flannel pajamas at night. The humidity of summer is gone, but you can still sleep with the windows open. It’s the season for beginning to get cozy, before the burdens of winter outerwear and the inconvenience of snow, ice, and freezing temperatures make any venture outdoors something of a chore.

Then, of course, autumn brings our spectacular fall foliage. After our lush, green summer, these hills explode in the annual burst of color that attracts visitors from all over the United States and the globe. Even the laziest among us aren’t immune to the lure of cool, crisp temperatures, the crinkling of leaves underfoot, and the gorgeous vistas beyond every turn.

But the appeal of autumn goes even deeper than nature. There is something about the rhythm of the seasons that makes fall the most comfortable and reassuring. Here in the Berkshires, autumn comes as something of a respite from the hurly-burly of summer. Our richest season, culturally speaking, is also our most hectic, but with the onset of fall, life reverts to a more reasonable pace—one that seems more in keeping with our tranquil surroundings. There is still plenty to do—just witness the range of activities suggested in the pages within—but there are fewer demands (social, cultural, and otherwise) placed on our time.

Autumn is also a period of transition, a time when we begin to turn somewhat inward in preparation for the coming winter. It’s time to gather our nuts, literally and figuratively. There is undoubtedly something primeval about this—something in the fading light, in the crisper air, in the nature of the season’s holidays, most of which encourage introspection even as they celebrate or commemorate family, tribal, or national togetherness—that fosters this instinct for self-preservation, this turning away from the material and toward the spiritual.

Speaking of spirits, we’ve got plenty of them here in the Berkshires according to Williamstown, Massachusetts, author Dean Crawford, who in his Berkshire Living debut (“Here in Spirit,” p. 52) profiles a handful of the most colorful and persistent ghosts in these parts. We also welcome writers Tad Ames (“Double Play,” p. 26) and Tresca Weinstein (“Cinema Verities,” p. 32) to our pages for the first time in this issue.

We’re particularly thrilled to present the work of two of the Berkshires’ finest photographers for the first time in Berkshire Living. The photography illustrating Gladys Montgomery’s townscape of West Stockbridge (“A River Runs Through It,” p. 46) shows why Paul Rocheleau has long been one of the Berkshires’ best known and most beloved pictorial chroniclers. And the leaf on this month’s cover as well as the gorgeous shots of wine cellars inside (“Grape Nuts,” p. 86) only hint at the artistry and breadth of the work of Fred Collins, who in addition to being a terrific photographer and a really great guy, also happens to be our next-door neighbor here at Berkshire Living, where he and his lovely wife, Alison Collins, run the Iris Gallery of Fine Art Photography just down the hall.

As for me, I’m so glad it’s finally fall.

Happy reading.

[From Berkshire Living, October 2005





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