Berkshires

A couple days after returning from Vermont, I headed north again, this time to Sandisfield, Massachusetts. My housemate Arran's family has a wooden mansion there, a converted Gentleman's Lodge on acres and acres of property, purchased by his great-grandparents in the 1970s. After years of gradual construction, the house feels like a grown-up playground, complete with indoor and outdoor fireplaces, cross-country skis, board games, books, a hot tub, a pool table, food grown on the property, a lake, a meadow, and even a slide connecting Arran's room to his brother's upstairs. They have left some of the original decorations, including antlers and animal hides and old books and globes. There are windows everywhere, and I spent the mornings reading in a huge leather chair as the house filled with light.

Though people came and went over the course of the four days, the group included, at some point, nearly all of my best friends from Wesleyan. It was the perfect way to spend spring break. The last time I went to visit, in the early fall, we made apple pancakes with apples picked from the trees outside and ate handfuls of the last few raspberries left on the bushes. This time, we covered our pancakes in maple syrup tapped in the backyard and ate dinners of steak, chicken and vegetables grilled on the outdoor fireplace.

On Wednesday morning, we awoke to a perfect spring day, perhaps the first of the season. Ankit, Sam and I walked to a lake about two miles away, and we sat watching ice melt and teaching Ankit camp songs. The rest of the trip was rainy, and we mostly spent it inside, cooking, playing board games, drinking beer, and reading. On our last night, we stayed up until 3 in the morning talking and laughing in front of the fire.

I'm back at Wesleyan now. The dreary weather has followed me, and I miss the fresh maple syrup and the fireplace. But it's nice to be home and to sleep in my own bed for a few days before I go on my last trip of the break.