February ended with several snow falls with varying amounts of accumulation.   The attached video was taken in the back yard of Brook Farm Inn during one of the recent storms.  The local towns have done a good job keeping the roads clear and our guests have been enjoying great downhill and cross country ski conditions.  Linda and I have been snowshoeing in Pleasant Valley Wildlife Preserve here in Lenox MA.  It was some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen in years.  There was three feet of snow at the top of Lenox Mountain.  We came back to the inn and sat by the library fireplace.  We love the Berkshires in the winter.

Snow Falling on Brook Farm Inn

Welcome to Snow Time in the Berkshires

Frosty welcomes you to Brook Farm Inn

The  pristine snow that fell in Lenox a few days ago  resulted in the sighting of these winter friends at Brook Farm Inn.  The Berkshires are now ready for cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.  The ski areas are making their own snow to add to nature’s bounty, and the scenery is great!

The 25th Annual Festival of Trees
November 14 – January 3

Each year, the Berkshire Museum spruces up the galleries with scores of festive trees decorated by community organizations, businesses, and school children. This year, to mark the Festival’s Silver Anniversary, the trees have been inspired by the theme Silver Bells.

The Festival of Trees is a time-honored Berkshires custom that Brook Farm Inn guests have enjoyed every holiday season.  Ask us for more information, or see www.berkshiremuseum.org

There is poetry here….   And one of our most memorable poetry readings was the one given by Peter Bergman, Executive Director of the Millay Society.  We’re glad to share the Millay Society’s new website www.millay.org.  You can go there to find out about the progress at Steepletop,  Edna St. Vincent Millay’s home in the Berkshires.  There are also upcoming events.  Steepletop is a lovely place to visit any time, where you can walk the Poetry Trail, a wooded path, with poems posted along the way, ending at the peacefully sheltered gravesite.

Peter Bergman reading Millay at Brook Farm Inn

Here in the Berkshires, we treasure the Trustees of Reservations.  As a conservationist organization, they provide beautifully maintained, scenic hiking trails, historic homes to visit, and lovely gardens.  Among our favorite places is Naumkeag in Stockbridge (a gorgeous Stanford White home with gardens), and also Ashintully Gardens in Tyringham.  This weekend we’ll have perfect weather for hiking some of the trails as well, so at Brook Farm Inn we’ll be glad to provide maps and directions.  All the sites are close to Lenox.

Sunday, September 6th, the Muir String Quartet will open the South Mountain Concert series at 3 PM.  This chamber concert series runs for 5 Sunday afternoons in September and October.  It’s held in a most unusual wooded setting, in a building constructed solely for this purpose.  Situtated on a wooded slope in the midst of the Berkshires, the hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.  Its intimate atmosphere provides a unique setting to enjoy chamber music, and the performers are world reknowned.  It’s a 10-minute ride from Brook Farm Inn, and we can provide you with all the information.

Frederic Church was one of America’s most important landscape artists, and his home, Olana, is close enough to the Berkshires for a day trip.  A trip there from Brook Farm Inn yesterday took under an hour, and it was worth the trip. Church, a  Hudson River School painter, developed Olana as a 3-dimensional work of art; a totally integrated environment embracing architecture, art and landscape.  The views of the Hudson River — seen in his paintings – are spectacular, and the house tour was fascinating.  We intend to go back to enjoy the hiking trails on the property.

Who put the Mock in Democracy?  It’s the Capitol Steps, and they’re performing all summer here in Lenox.  We saw their performance a few days ago, and went home with our jaws hurting from laughing nonstop for 90 minutes.  The song and dance political satire troupe is very talented, and no one in the news is safe from theirparodies.  To quote from their program, when they hear of a scandal, they ask “1) Is it funny? and 2) What rhymes with it?”  Shows are nightly except Tuesday at 8 PM. For tickets, phone the box office at 413-881-1636.

Studio at Chesterwood

Chesterwood is the house & studio of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial.  It’s a 10-minute ride from Brook Farm Inn, and one of the treasures of the Berkshires.  You can tour the house and studio, stroll the gardens, and wander the wooded pathways.  A new outdoor contemporary sculpture exhibit has just opened there as well, and artists from the show will offer workshops and demonstrations on Sundays in July & August.