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

We spent an entertaining and engrossing evening at this play, currently being performed around the corner from Brook Farm Inn, Lenox MA, at Shakespeare & Co.  The  intimate theater is a wonderful place to connect with the action, and the costumes alone are worth the price of admission.  Here’s the information:

Love is the ultimate weapon! This wickedly entertaining story of love, sex and betrayal is as sumptuously guilt-inducing as a decadent chocolate you just can’t resist. Depicting the devious schemes of French aristocrats on the cusp of the Revolution, it heats up the intimate Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company this winter under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer.

Packer directs Elizabeth Aspenlieder, who won the coveted Elliot Norton Award for her tour de force performance in Bad Dates last winter, and Josh Aaron McCabe, most recently seen last fall as Sherlock Holmes (and a host of other characters, both male and female) in the runaway hit The Hound of the Baskervilles. Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) was ahead of its time as a novel in 1782 and it still may be ahead of its time today.

At Brook Farm Inn in Lenox, MA, we enjoy sharing restaurant recommendations with our guests.  Flavours Restaurant was always one of our favorites, but its location used to be less than stellar.  It’s now moved to  a lovely space in Pittsfield and is better than ever.  There is ample parking across the street.  The menu features Malaysian food, as well as American fare.  Everything is fresh, cooked to order, and delectable.  The owners and staff are friendly and the service is great.  The location is near Barrington Stage Co., the new Beacon Cinema, and it’s on the way to the Clark in Williamstown or any destination north of Lenox.  Here’s a quote from the Flavours website:  

Malaysian food is not one particular distinction of food but a culinary diversity originating from it’s multi-ethnic population of Malay, Indian, Eurasian, Chinese, Nyonya and the Indigenous peoples of Borneo.  At Flavours, we offer the most authentic cosmic array of food that has now come to be known all over the world as ‘Malaysian Food’.  

Shakespeare and Company  is presenting a magically updated spin on the classic family folktale. Children of all ages will enjoy a contemporary, urban, romantic fairytale about a streetwise accordion player and the handsome cosmopolitan Prince who falls head over heels for her. “Cindy Bella” was presented as a work-in-progress last year, and now returns for its world premiere.

Founders’  Theatre on Kemble Street in Lenox MA is around the block from Brook Farm Inn.
December 10 – December 20
11:00 am / 2:00 pm / 7:00 pm

The Berkshire Theatre Festival is offering a holiday treat!  Dickens’ classic  will be performed just minutes away from Brook Farm Inn, Lenox MA. 

A Christmas Carol runs from December 12-30.  Please note the special “movie pricing” nights on Sunday, December 20 and Monday, December 28 where all seats are only $10!  Order your tickets at (413) 298-5576 ext. 33 or by going to Online Ticketing.

  Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”

The newest restaurant  in Lenox is called The Berkshire Harvest, because the menu is built around fresh foods that are grown, produced, or sourced in the local community.  We ate dinner there and enjoyed a well prepared meal, in a pleasant atmosphere, with cheerful and attentive service.  The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, and prices are modest.  There’s something on the imaginative menu for everyone — meat, chicken , pasta, vegetarian and entrees — plus great drinks and desserts.  We’ll be recommending it to Brook Farm Inn guests!

On Saturday, April 18th at 5 pm, Simon’s Rock professor Peter Filkins will read from and discuss his recent translation of H.G. Adler’s novel, The Journey.  The reading takes place in the Mount, The estate of Edith Wharton at 2 Plunket Street, Lenox Massachusetts

Adler, one of only a handful of German-speaking Jewish novelists to survive the Holocaust, wrote 26 works in German, including poetry, fiction, history, philosophy and religion. This is the first of his novels to be translated into English.  In this work, Adler uses his experiences at the labor camp Theresienstadt to recount the tale of the Lustig family and their struggle to come to terms with the tragedies of war.

Peter Filkins is a poet and translator. His translations include the collected poems of Ingeborg Bachmann, Darkness Spoken, as well as her novels The Book of Franza and Requiem for Fanny Goldmann.  His work has been awarded an Outstanding Translation Award from ALTA, a Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin, and a Distinguished Translation Award from the Austrian Government.

A book signing and reception will follow.

Tickets for this event are $12.  Please phone 413-551-5111 for reservations.  The Mount is located one mile from Brook Farm Inn in Lenox Ma.

The Mass Audubon Society and the Housatonic Valley Association are offering free guided educational canoe trips down the Housatonic River.  The route begins at the Mary Decker boat launch in Lenox MA and goes to Woods Pond.  The three hour trip will be a good way for novice paddler to be introduced to the beauty and nature of the area.  You may encounter many types of birds, deer, moose, muskrats, and an occasional black bear.  Canoes, paddles and life vests are provided.  For more information call 413 637 0320.  Dates and times of the trips are:

9 am to noon       July 12,13,19, and 26

                            Aug. 4,11,17,23,25 and 30

2 to 5 pm            July 14 and 28

Noon to 3 pm      Aug. 3 and 9

Ventfort Hall, in Lenox Massachusetts, is one of the Berkshires’ gems.  It’s a mansion and Gilded Age Museum.  Guests can enjoy, in addition to tours and exhibits, lectures and picnics on the porch, and special events.  This weekend we recommend the play, “They Called Me Lizzy…from Slavery to the White House.” See it Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14. It’s the true life story of ELizabeth Keckly and her rise from slavery to entrepreneurial freedom, then scandal and decline.  She was dressmaker & confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln.  You can walk to Ventfort Hall from Brook Farm Inn!