Every morning in Massachusetts, I make a pot of tea. Black and white china decorated with the names of English foods (“Fresh Milk & Jersey Cream” says my milk jug), tea cosy covered in a flowery print, tray I bought at John Lewis. And strong Assam to drink. Some days, I make myself a slice of crisp toast spread with Marmite. I left London over 25 years ago, with two preschool children, to find a better life in a small town, in the country where I was born. But on [...]
Some say small-town politics are more vicious than the big-city variety because the stakes are so small. They can be vicious, that
I drove up Route 7 to Monument Mountain High School on Friday night as the moon rose over East Mountain, milky white and nearly full, luminous in a sky streaked with coral and rose pink from the setting sun. I had forgotten how beautiful that stretch of the Berkshires is in the evening. I hadn
Neighborly harmony is a thing devotedly to be wished for. It is not easy to achieve, and I've read plenty in the course of my research on community about battles over hedges (a huge issue in the UK), loud music, and lawn and garden housekeeping. It's easy to avoid neighbors today. I know someone who has lived in in a crowded suburb in the Silicon Valley for decades without speaking to a neighbor or even knowing their names. In many places, people simply drive in and out of the driveway, [...]
Berkshire Publishing used to have offices on Main Street and my walk to work was down Castle Street - the prettiest and shortest commute in the world, I often thought. It's still my most frequent walk because I'd do just about anything to avoid driving and have the good fortune to live in a neighborhood within a few minutes' of a small-town downtown with hardware stores (yes, that's plural), groceries, library, restaurants, and one of the best cheese shops in the United States. I used to go into Covent Garden [...]