The Good Life

Since the time of Aristotle and the Greek philosophers, humans have debated just what the good life is. Champagne and caviar? Solitude by Walden Pond?

A place to call home

Looking at this photo taken outside the Jane Hotel in New York reminds me of a time when I was at home in a city I haven't been to since the week before the US lockdown in March 2020. I lived around the corner with my then partner, and we had seen the effects of extreme weather the autumn before, when Hurricane Sandy flooded lower Manhattan. We were unable to return to our building for nearly a month. Here's what I wrote at the time: 12 November 2012 The need [...]

June 12th, 2021|Categories: The Search for Community|Tags: , , , |

The walk to Main Street

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 [...]

May 25th, 2012|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , |

Spring peepers and poetry

This email is too good not to share with international friends. It comes from our friend Erik Hoffner at Orion magazine, which has offices on Main Street in Great Barrington, only an eight-minute walk from the offices of Berkshire Publishing. A peeper, for those of you who have not lived in New England, is a tiny frog that makes a great deal of noise. They are the sound of springtime here - until the birds arrive, of course. So far, only geese, not flocks of chattering birds. The fact that [...]

March 12th, 2012|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , |