Capping off an entirely too-busy month of January, Jane and I take Jordan for a three-night, end-of-week getaway to the southwestern corner of Massachusetts. We’ve spent far too little time here in Western Mass, in the hilltowns of the Berkshire Plateau, and although Jordan’s a touch too young to really enjoy winter sports, we decide to break out our snowshoes and spend a few days enjoying the mountains’ winter scenery. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for us, our weekend trip corresponds to the coldest few days that any of us have experienced during our adult lives here on the East Coast. After stocking up at groceries at the Big Y in South Lee, we hole up for a few nights at the Holiday Inn Oak ‘n Spruce Resort, a complex of hotel buildings nestled into the valley next to Beartown State Forest. We wind up spending most of our time relaxing in our two-bedroom condo, visiting the nearby activity center (where Jordan delights in exploring the arcade, watching Jane play skee-ball, and sitting in his very first movie theater, where he watches an extraordinarily Hallmark-ey Hallmark Channel movie. On Friday morning, we head north to Hilltop Orchards, where Jane buys cookies and jams at the farm store (gifts for the teachers at Jordan’s home daycare, for his final month at Ladybug). The cashier seems somewhat perplexed when I point to our toddler and ask about snowshoeing in the frigid cold. We head a hundred feet down the frozen driveway, attach our snowshoes, and climb over a snowbank onto a pristine meadow of thigh-deep powder. Jordan begins to get the hang of his shoes, but decides it would be more fun to lie down and make “popsicles” in the snow. We spend the rest of the day lounging around the hotel; in the afternoon, I tend to emails and one final momentous videocall to submit the fellowship program application for Dana-Farber.
On Saturday, the mercury continues to drop as we head toward subzero temperatures for the rest of the weekend. Jane and Jordan elect to stay in, while I lug the snowshoes down the driveway and enter the forest adjacent to our resort. It’s utterly frigid, but I’m well bundled up, and it’s hard work breaking the trail in my aluminum shoes. With the wind gusting and blowing down trails of snow throughout the forest around me, I enjoy making compositions all along the path. In the afternoon, as Jane attempts again (and fails again) to get Jordan to take his nap, I dig out the car and go on a driving tour of the nearby hilltowns, first stopping in West Stockbridge to patronize Shaker Mill Books and photograph an extremely icy Main Street. I next head south to Great Barrington, passing by sweeping views of the nearby mountain ranges; parking in town proves to be far too crowded to stop, so I head back to Stockbridge for a final bit of photography around the village and its snow-covered green. I return home after buying a trip magnet, an orange mocha, and a box of chocolate truffles for Jane at Love, Peace, & Chocolate. After a final relaxing night in our condo, we make the long drive back east to Boston in the throes of a polar vortex. All in all, a brief but memorable weekend.
