My last post was the morning Joshua left for camp. He seems to be having a blast! When our daughters went to sleepover camp, the camp had a rule that children could not call their parents outside of emergencies. Why? Their experience had been that children often became emotional on the phone and sounded miserable. Typically, the minute the call ended the camper went right back to having fun, but the parents were left worried for days that their child was unhappy.
The internet provides a wonderful way to balance the two needs: for parents to see how their children are doing while the children are free to have fun. The camp has a web page and there must be a small army of counselors running around with cameras and uploading pictures. So we are having fun going through all the smiling faces and finding our grandson. Of course I am not naïve enough to believe that every child is smiling every minute; undoubtedly someone is editing which pictures are posted. But all I can say is that I am almost ready to pack my duffle bag, they are having so much fun! Here is a picture of Joshua and some friends I found on the site (yes, he really is tall, the boy on his left is a year older than he is!):
Despite the threatening weather, we headed up to western Massachusetts yesterday morning. The day turned out to be quite lovely, although a bit warm. We checked out MASS MOCA, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, located about a half hour from Tanglewood. Like so many buildings in that part of the state, the museum is housed in an old factory that has been converted, but maintains a lot of the flavor of the original place. It is filled with modern art, a lot of geographic patterns and such. Not our usual taste but it was interesting. Here is an example. You can check it out at www.massmoca.org.
When we left the museum it was still mostly sunny, but by the time we checked into the hotel and gathered our things for the evening, the clouds were beginning to thicken. We headed over to Tanglewood shortly after it opened at 5 pm, and found a space on the lawn to have our picnic dinner. By the time we finished eating, the clouds were looking threatening and we felt a few sprinkles. We decided to pack up our things, make a pit stop, and head for our seats in the “shed.” Our timing was perfect: just after we arrived the rain came. And came. And came. When it became heavy there was an announcement that the concert was going to be delayed until the storm had safely passed, and they recommended – no, they insisted - that everyone leave the lawn for safety. All those folks who only had lawn seats were left standing on the perimeter of the shed. By about 8:30 the rain finally let up a bit, the worst of the lightning and thunder had passed, and James finally came on stage. He decided to forego his usual mid-concert break since he had started so late, which I am sure cannot be easy for any performer.
What can I say? James was James at his best. He did a lot of his classics, a few with somewhat different tempos, and a few new songs. The crowd at Tanglewood is head over heels in love with this guy. He always gets a warm response when he sings the lines:
“The first of December was covered with snow,
So was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston.
Oh the Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frostin’,
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go.”
All I can say is that it felt very right to be back at Tanglewood, back seeing James. As I wrote about Carole King, I do not know him personally but I feel like he is an old and dear friend. Like the rest of us, he is certainly not getting any younger, but his voice is still strong, and we hope he has many years to go in good health.
I had tried to post a few days ago following the horrible news from Israel about the three teenagers whose bodies were found after a two week intensive search. I could not think of anything I could possibly say. Some sadness simply goes beyond words.
But I was going to post this little video of our granddaughter Julia. And I will end now on this happy note, and wish you all a nice weekend. Stay safe from the storm!
Love,
Rebecca
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