Lenox, MA

We drove across Massachusetts on route 9 which is another
winding New England road. It was a very pleasant drive.
We arrived at Elske's in Lenox about 2 PM.

The rest of the day was spent primarily with Robert
and Elske talking cosmology and astronomy while I
read my book club book. The conversation continued
in the evening, but it wasn't all about science. We
did discuss a few cultural and political issues in
which, I of course joined in. Elske is a very interesting
person so it is always fun to hear her take on issues.

Today we went to a National Trust house which was quite
near. We had our membership card, amazingly enough, so
we did not have to pay the entrance fee.

The house is the Brookwood house and it was the home and
studio of Daniel Brook French who was did magnificent
sculptures. We took the tour of the house and studio.
It turns out he, as a young man, entered what has become
MIT and promptly flunked out and decided to become a
farmer. Along the way he got interested in sculpting so
his wealthy father asked him what he needed to do to learn
more about his new chosen field. He went off to school and
later Europe and became a fabulous sculptor. He not only
did the Minute Man sculpture in Concord, Mass and even
more impressive the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. We
saw his drawings and models and we learned about light.
He had a great studio with sky lights and north light and
a railroad track such that he could push his sculptures
outside and it was also on a turn table so he could
view the sculptures in all sorts of situations, rain, shine
night, day, sunshine, etc. BUT no one warned him of the
reflecting pool at the site of the memorial. When he
discovered that and saw what the light shining on the
pool did to poor Lincoln he was devastated. That is
why there are lights inside the memorial always
shining on the statue. We saw photos of the statue
with and without the lights and with just the
reflection from the pool Lincoln looks terrible! It
was an interesting tour. Actually, you have to take
the tour to get into the house and studio.

After our tour we took a walk through the woods and
a modern sculpture garden.

It is an off and on rainy day, but we lucked out
because there was no rain while we were there.

We're going out to dinner tonight.

Thanks for the e-mail...and I shall answer each
individually.