A Weekend in the Hills of Western Mass. and Vt.

We took a few days off this past weekend to visit friends out in the western part of Massachusetts and Dee's cousin Susan Potter in Brattleboro, Vt.
Susan Elena Esquivel, clayworker and soon-to-be yoga instructor, and Andrew Sovjani, photographer, opened their house in the woods of Conway to us. I worked with Susan several years ago when I was editor of Martha's Vineyard Magazine and she was the magazine's art director. She's since found Andrew and the beautiful, forested and hilly area around Northampton, Mass., as well as Northampton's lively art and culture scene.
We ate well with Andrew and Susan, and had fine chocolate and banana pancakes on Sunday morning, made by Andrew's nine-year-old daughter Mika. Dee ran one morning down Main Poland Road and found Chapel Creek. She brought me back there later that day, after the sun had gone down. That's where the stream photos come from. Mika is, not surprisingly, the young woman with the pancakes.
Then we headed up to Brattleboro, Vt., less than an hour away. That town is yet another lively place, with lots of art, music, food, coffee shops and bookstores ... the five ways we measure the quality of a town. Dee's cousin Susan showed us around the area, and guided us to Vermont Shepherd, home of the sheep seen here. We bought cheese and admired the wool and the view.
Back home Monday evening. I drive to Braintree tomorrow to get more clay and begin to make more pots.