The Berkshires || 28 October 2015
I took a trip to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts last weekend to catch the last
few glimpses of the autumn foliage at its peak. I journeyed to the top of Mount Greylock to take an aerial look of the town of Adams. The houses, streets, and town square were all visible to me without turning my head– viewing it from above made it look so small. It’s always interesting to me to think that the area in which we live most of our lives is so tiny in the grand scheme of things. Two hundred years ago, it was rare for someone to travel more than a hundred miles away from their home at any point during their lifetime. Nowadays it’s completely different. Anyone can take a rental car to a different state, a train up or down the coast, or a plane around the world– all in a matter of hours. Seeing new places never fails to remind me that I am only one person living only one life, and that there are billions of people experiencing a completely different course of events that I am.
Sometimes I think that my life is more interesting than others because I live in a big city, because of my job, or because I’m subject to a superiority illusion just like everyone else. Gaining perspective in places like this helps to ground me and make me appreciate the individuality of lives other than my own.
After an hour or so on the mountain, I took a bit of a detour up to Vermont and stopped at the Apple Barn Country Bake Shop. They have aged cheeses, roasted ute, and apple in just about everything you can imagine, cider, donuts, wine, beer, you name it. Needless to say I stocked up on at least a month’s (or at least a good night’s you never know) of hard cider.
Altogether, my days in the mountains were a success. Vacationing from the city, even if it’s only for 48 hours, has become an indispensable habit of mine. All too often I get caught up in small annoyances in my daily life– the indescribably long wait for the subway, the left heel of my boot ripping away from the leather, or the infrequent, but noticeable, drip of my bathroom sink. It’s so good to center myself outside the city and breathe some fresh mountain air.
