Welcome to Chautauqua Institute, “THWACK!” That is the sound I heard as the gate came down on the windshield of my car. Ugh. My first stop on my second journey west started with a bang.
At The Mount
It has been a magical last week in the Berkshires. We have had hot, humid, firefly-twinkling weather interspersed with drenching rainfall, thunder and lightning. I have a renewed sense of purpose, an excitement building inside, new dreams and goals blossoming, and a firm conviction that I am meant to be here even as I leave for a few months. Continue reading
Ali
It’s so nice to know my habit of meeting interesting people is still alive and well here in Lenox. Last week I was having lunch in one of my favorite cafe’s when the chef came out and sat at the table next to mine and had his lunch. We started chatting, as you know I do, and he told me about how he has dinner parties and cooks authentic West African food from his home country of Cote d’Ivoire, and how he plans to make enough money to build an orphanage there. I ran out of time to hear the whole story so I gave him my card and we texted and made plans to meet for tea later. Continue reading
The Berkshires of MA
I am so relieved. I just made the decision to take to the road again this summer. I had the choice to stay in Lenox, MA and work in the Shakespeare & Co box office but I decided that would take up all of my summer and not further my goals at all. I am proud of my decision, though it was very stressful to walk away from a paycheck, however small, to do what my heart and intuition tells me. Continue reading
This has been the longest stretch of silence since I started blogging over a year ago. I have been directing A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a middle and high school residency for the last 7 weeks. It was intense, driving 45 minutes each way, auditioning, directing, planning, costuming, teaching, making mistakes, studying, caring deeply, always trying to improve and control 50 rambunctious and varied-aged kids. It was probably some of the toughest teaching I will ever do. My directing partner has had many years of experience directing here at Shakespeare & Company and he said it was the hardest group he has had to deal with. Continue reading
I went back to Benedict Pond this weekend and it was like visiting an old friend. Continue reading
Ridin’ with her hair in the wind
And her hands in the sky
Like she’s flyin’
Spring has finally arrived in the Berkshires. The snow is gone, my teaching residency has started, this is my 100th post, and I have moved to a new house share. A lot of changes in the last few weeks, so where do I start?
“A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.” -Ansel Adams
I wrote a report in high school on the naturalist photographer Ansel Adams. He was a fanatic about light and how it affects the world through the camera lens, and since then I have been enamored of watching the changes light creates on landscapes. Continue reading
As this year ends, my heart is bursting with thanks for the amazing journey I have enjoyed and shared with you all. There has been an incredible 7500 views (from 79 different countries) of my 87 blog posts. I have fallen in love, with my country and Canada, the mountains, the sea, the National Parks, so many people who are now irreplaceable friends, country music, dancing, writing, sharing Shakespeare with youth, acting with open honest people, a canyon, a pond, mountain tops, fringe boots and above all myself. I go into 2013 a braver, more empowered, confident, sassy, flirty, fabulous female. Here are just a few photo memories to relive but there are so many, many more that I could include of the amazing world that has embraced me this past year. May our 2013 bring more love, more encounters, more adventure, compassion and peace. Happy New Year my friends!
Yosemite NP, California in April 2012…the beginning. Continue reading
I have been rehearsing a play, called the Caucasian Chalk Circle, at the Austin Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA. This is a recovery/therapeutic center that helps individuals struggling to live productive lives in our society. Patients live in an open community and share their difficult life experiences, and work together for solutions. Two times a year Kevin Coleman (see Meet Kevin) is hired to direct a play with them and he asked me to get involved when one of the patients needed to drop out. Continue reading
meanderest 