New England 7

​SEPTEMBER 2026

Late picture of concert at The Mount…

Chenango Valley RV Park - The green mountains were beautiful in spite of the rain that pestered all day long. Sitting under the awning, we watched the raindrops plop on leaves, bending them under the weight. I love the pitter patter on the metal roof too - very soothing. Slept through the night and woke up to more rain which continued for our entire trip. Thank goodness Nora and Kieran are coming today and are bringing breakfast burritos and dinner. That’s what keeps us going… Change of plans - Nora picked us up and we went to her new home (which has so much character) where we were served crackers, cheeses, pate, with mustards and hot honey. 

We went through the pictures Eileen had given Rich. Nora brought out her laptop and projected her old photos on the TV screen and quizzed her “Daddy” on who was who. It was surreal as I had just gone through my external hard drive with all of my family pictures from early 1900’s. Must be something about our stage of life that we are exploring and cherishing family history. 

So our camping trip was shortened by Mother Nature, but we had a wonderful time camping in Nora’s living room…

School back in session - When I was in school, we started after Labor Day. Now, in Massachusetts, they go back before. 

Driscoll girls - Senior and Sophomore 

Clark boys - Senior and Freshman and Miss Maci

Labor Day Weekend - Perry and Nora and their families came to see us at the Lee Art Show on Sunday and then took us out for dinner at the Locker Room. 

Lee Art Show

On Monday, we had a brunch at my house for my family. It is the only time we could get everyone together with sports, cars, jobs, and life in general. Life moves on! I made an Oven Omelette; Rich fried up 3 pounds of bacon, home fries, French toast, and pasta salad. Kristie brought a fruit salad and Shannon several juices including tomato juice and celery for Bloody Mary’s! I love a good brunch - and they did too.

Lenox Art Walk - We were invited back to the Fall Lenox Art Walk this year. Last year we did really well on Saturday, and half that on Sunday. This year was gorgeous weather on day one, and rain on day two. BUT another “small world” story emerged. A family of 6 (senior couple, young couple, a 2-year-old, and 3-week-old) swarmed our booth with focus on the 2-year-old choosing his favorite painting. I ask his name and it is Cole. So I mention that my name is Driscoll and they called my late husband Cole. The group decided on 3 different mattes and the grandfather, Jim, was paying. He asked me about my name - which Driscoll was I? Bob Driscoll’s wife, did you know Bob? Oh yes, we played ball together. I didn’t recall that they called him Cole. I can’t believe he’s been gone 9 years! How did you and Rich meet?  I smiled, Online just before they declared the pandemic! Really, so did these two, pointing to the young couple. I continued, we chatted online for 3 months and then met right here in Lilac Park with our masks on. His daughter joined us and had the same experience - meeting for the first time on a park bench with masks on. Seriously? Rich said he was going West in his motorhome and did I want to join him. I said Yes and within a few months we drove to Arizona. Jim said, that’s funny. She (his daughter) lived in Arizona for 5 years before recently returning home to run the family Wine Cellar business. Now they have the two littles and life is good! Small world - just keep talking…

FALL SPORTS

Soccer - Leanna plays defense, is a captain and does the corner kicks, often resulting in an assist or goal of her own. We watch from the top of the hill so have to rely on hair styles, the way they run, or binoculars for the real experience.

Volleyball - Lily loves playing volleyball and I enjoy watching it even though they play five games in one night. So far they have won or lost the first three, shortening the ride on the hard bleachers. She is getting really good at this. I nicknamed her TapTap for the plays she made at the net.

Football - Jake as a receiver is still sidelined since the favorite tact this team has is carrying the ball - and of course, his knee caps which want to dislocate at the worst times. The last surgeon he went to says it will definitely happen again - he needs surgery to prevent it which will take 6-7 months to heal. He has yet to play a full season of football or basketball because of this. Very upsetting as he is 6’6” and a high school senior! Got in the game briefly - white jersey in foreground. 

Golf - Zachary is playing golf this year. He is new and learning so stay tuned…

Weekend off! There is no Farmers Market during Lee Founders Day weekend, so we got out of town. After the last two weekends of back to back 2-day Art Shows, we were ready to take a break. So back to Dorset, VT we go… We were here a month ago with Zach, Perry and family. This time Nora is joining us. Seems like deja vu from the attempt to camp with her at Chendango, NY - nice day 1 and rainy day 2. This time we don’t have her living room to camp out in, but we have plenty of room in the motorhome for the 3 of us to visit. 

The ride there began early as the Lee parade forms next to my house - had to get out of there earlier than expected and stop for a great breakfast at the Blue Ben Diner in Bennington, VT. Oh shucks! Rich recalled that it had been for sale a few years ago when we went by, so I looked it up on Chat GPT (my newest discovery) and it was sold and re-opened in 2020 after the Pandemic. The portions there are very generous and prices not bad at all. I got a spinach and sour cream omelette with Swiss cheese on top with home fries and whole wheat toast.  

The diner entry is a small space covered with seasonal decorations - wreaths, wooden signs, etc. - which they sell. 

There were several Saturday tag sales along the road, but the one in Arlington, VT was a long string of canopies with various wares - art, yarn pieces, candles, a Food Court. The trees are just beginning to turn into their spectacle of colors. Still a little early for the big showing…

There are also stretches of stone wall boundaries which I recently watched a documentary on:

The condensed version is an ice glacier over New England 20,000 years ago, 1 mile thick in places scraped across bedrock. This ground turned to fine sand, gravel and huge boulders - as the glacier melted, it dumped all of the debris over the land. This is called glacial till. But when settlers arrived from Europe in 1600’s, they found dense old growth forest with soft rich soil between trees. Barriers and fencing for livestock were made of the abundant timber - stone walls were rare in that period because the stones had not yet appeared. Glacial till was still buried by the forest which had grown. This all changed when the settlers began cutting down the trees. Deforestation did two things at once - first, stripped away the root systems and the stones it had buried. Second, it exposed the bare ground to frost heave. In winter, water in the ground freezes and expands. In spring the soil thaws but does not sink back down as fine soil particles filled the space beneath them. As a result, this pushes a fresh crop of rocks to the surface to be moved out of the fields. Each Spring a whole new crop of rocks evolved which was frustrating and exhausting because the settlers had to move the rocks aside with ox drawn sleds. Initially they just piled the rocks along the side of the wooden fences to clear the land for planting or grazing. After generations of doing this, they started piling the stones in a more attractive and appealing way. The rich folks would hire masons to stack the rocks into precision barriers. 

When we were here in Dorset RV Park last month there were three chickens that frequented our site. Now I count 11 traveling in a pack, even chasing each other aggressively fighting over food scraps and insects. 

Nora brought her specialty nibbles which ended up being our dinner. We ate a lot of it! On day 2, we had bangers and mashed which is an English sausage with different herbs than what we are used to and mashed potatoes. That was after a wedge of iceberg with her homemade blue cheese dressing. 

Neighbor Eileen made her famous chocolate chip cookies for Rich before we left and we had a couple for dessert.  

This RV park has a huge campfire every Saturday night - a REAL bonfire indeed. 

The odometer reached 60,000 on this Road Runner. When we made the first trip in 2020 it was at 14,000. That’s a lot of miles. 

Big Y Gang (folks that I worked with years ago) get together quarterly. Love meeting up with this crew to catch up on our lives and plans for the future. This quarter we went to Burmese Bowl where most of us had yummy Pad Thai. Afterwards we made a quick trip to Highlawn Farm for a last-of-the-season ice cream treat. 

Fall Weather prevented us from doing Farmers Market on the last Saturday of September. A nor’easter was in the forecast with winds up to 44 mph gusts and rain. That doesn’t mix well with art so we decided to stay home. It was a special kind of day as there was no schedule for the day - no going for a walk (although the regular walkers streamed by my house in the morning), no getting dressed first thing - just the usual NYT Puzzles, crocheting, and blogging. I decided I should take advantage of this and wash my downstairs windows inside. A little more  work on the closets and Goodwill pile was a vision, but waited for another day.  

One task I decided to do was pull my Turkish rug onto the deck to take advantage of a rainfall rinse. I got my big, stiff brush and scrubbed with Dawn which I tested first. It really made a difference and I was happy with my decision even though I was practically standing on my head bent over to scrub. I paid the price - later at 11:30 I heard a crashing sound outside of the bedroom window. I got up and looked - couldn’t see a thing it was so dark. Went back to bed and heard machinery and saw a flashing blue light through the blinds. Got up to see police and DPW folks with bright lights surveying the situation.

I watched for a while as they chainsawed and bulldozed branches off the street into a dump truck. Got bored and tired - went back to bed. Couldn’t sleep so I got up to look again. Now they had a claw picking up bigger branches. 

Got tired and went back to bed for a while - now the big bucket loader showed up. 

I wanted to film this to show my grandkids, but it went on from 11:30pm-2:30am. Now Rich was up watching too and I told him I felt faint and nauseous. He told me to get back to bed. I sat on the corner of the bed. The next thing I knew I was on the floor - I must have slipped gracefully onto the floor and was really out of it. He heard the thud and was trying to get me up. Getting up off the floor is a feat in normal conditions, but this was a real challenge! I let the doctor know what happened and with all the information (including a remote transmission of my heart monitor) she concluded it was orthostatic hypotension due to position changes. (Too many ups and downs today!) My heart did not show signs of abnormalities. Stayed in the house all day Sunday and had a bonus PJ day on Monday as it was raining. Walked on Tuesday and did OK, so I think I’m back to normal. Echocardiogram scheduled next Monday.  

Fellow uke player, Stefi, had invited me to NYC for a Cynthia Lyn workshop. Boy would I have loved that, but it wasn’t in the cards. She texted me to say she somehow met Charleen and Mary Ann from our Aloha Uke group in Florida. I’m sure it was just through talking to people! Stefi is a good talker and as I always say, the longer you talk to people the more apt you are to find a connection with them. Once again, it became a reality. 

Leaving for Florida on November 6th… 

New England 7

​AUGUST 2026

Dorset, VT RV Park - First time out camping this year since we got motorhome repairs done. We met Perry and his family at Dorset RV Park and Zachary (my youngest grandchild) came with us on his maiden voyage of camping. PJ and Zach are both 14 years old right now, so it was a fun time for them. A local quarry is within walking distance and they went everyday, even 3 times on the last day there. The day that I went, it started pouring before we left and the walk home was long and wet. Kegan, Cassidy and 1-year-old Isabella were there as well. As always, we ate well and Zach loved everything about it. 

Click to see Zach jumping from high point…

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qeGE3zuPFNm2h8sV8

Leanna got her first car and it’s a beauty! 2014 Berry Red Forrester with 70k miles. It is so clean inside and out and it has a sunroof which is approved by sister, Lily.😂

BUTI (Boston University Tanglewood Institute) invited us to their annual Community Day in order to show appreciation to the town of Lenox for allowing them to have a 6-week summer music camp on the grounds next to Tanglewood, Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home. This is an aerial view of the lawn at Tanglewood offered by a local gallery.

We set up in front of the Groton Library, a beautiful stone building which houses the students. This is their 60th year and over 10,000 alumni strong as a leader in the field of classical music education. For many, it is a summer of exploration and discovery. And for some, is the pivotal moment when a student dares to pursue a life in the arts. For students ages 10 through 20, BUTI has summer training programs for all orchestral instruments, voice, piano, and composition, ranging in duration from two to six weeks.

Every attendee got a free t-shirt and was entertained by these talented students. 

Another feature was Bella Santorella (Josh) doing a Drag Story Hour.

Happy 17th Birthday Jacob Ryder ❤️

Lee Craft Fair is a big deal in town and is my church’s fundraiser. One of the entertainers was a group of traveling dancing Englishmen - click on the link to see them…

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LSW7nUVTnEBEMMsY6

Spectacle Pond - We decided to take Sunday afternoon ride through Tyringham and Sandisfield to check out activity at Spectacle Pond. Someone told me that a dilapidated house that Rich drew is no longer there. I was sure it was on the right side of the street and Rich thought the left, so drove all the way to Sandisfield without spotting any remnant at all. Turned around and on the way back, sure enough, just before the pond on the side Rich said it was, a few corner stones and tree stumps remained. No other sign of it. They are putting a gas pipeline through that area which was contested by locals. 

This is the rendering that Rich drew:

Maggie, maple syrup vendor and lifetime native, had been in the house. There was no water or electricity when 4 children were raised there. They had a well and gas lamps. 

Adirondacks - Took a day trip to visit Perry and Nora’s campsites at Rogers Rock on Lake George, NY. On the way there we passed Brant Lake which is about 10 miles long. With trees and occasional farms to the right of us, the views of the lake were interrupted by camps to the left of us. Folks from NYC, NJ, and CT find respite in these beautiful mountains. It’s impossible to put into words the different shades of green which will be a glorious rainbow of fall colors soon. The babbling brook peppered with stones and rocks meanders to the right until it opens up to the southern tip long span of Lake George.

Listening to my Autio app by Hear-here through the radio on Bluetooth helps us better understand the history of the area that we are driving through. Obviously, New England was totally engaged in the Revolutionary War to divide from England.

The Amish culture is evidenced in the area. 

PLAY FOR PEACE DAY - we had a pool/jam party with food, drink, ukes, vocals and great friends!  

Trip to Queensbury, NY - The day of Rich’s doctor appointment, went to visit his sister, Eileen and husband, Steve. They are cleaning out the cellar and have boxes of old family pictures. Separating them all by family member is an extra step they take. 

We got so carried away with memories and stories of old, that three and a half hours flew by very quickly. The town of Whitehall has as many nicknames for people as Lee does. 

Their gorgeous hydrangea…

BUB (Berkshire Ukulele Band) was asked to perform at an OLLI event. Osher Life Long Learning Institute offers educational programs throughout Berkshire County. In order to do that, they have substantial donors and this was an Appreciation Night at Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount - 125 attended. We gathered on the marble porch and played two 20-minute sets with a couple of speakers in the middle. Then we were able to partake of the amenities (bar, food and tours of the building and the gardens). 

It was a lovely evening and quite enjoyable. A familiar woman made eye contact with me and even approached between songs to ask where Rich was. For the life of me, I could not place where I knew her from. I kept looking without looking at her illegible name badge. Racked my brains throughout the performance until the end when she came to me to chat. I told her I also played with the Music Academy - she proclaimed, Yes, that’s where I know you from. As soon as she said that, I knew! Marietta! Sooooooo embarrassed! We have been sitting next to each other for 2 months at the Music Academy. Yeah, right next to each other with many good conversations before class! Oy!

It’s a Small World - At Farmers Market, we have met many characters and told/heard a plethora of stories to boot. We had a customer, Karen, very interested in a small pine needle jug that Rich made. She mentioned that she had an enormous amount of woven baskets and such in her home. I asked where she lives and it is Westbrook, ME. Oh, we go through Westbrook to get to our camp in Raymond, ME a couple of times a year. We then noted that if you talk to people long enough, you find a connection. Her husband, Paul, then joined us and she told him about Raymond and I added that my great grandfather built a cabin on Panther Pond in 1901. Panther Pond? I know a Bob VanWyck on Panther Pond - we went to law school together at University of Maine and had many a good time. Really! We are next door neighbors to the VanWycks! We talked about his parents and how Betty, Bob’s mother, made homemade bread and slathered it with butter. We could all smell it when it came out of the oven and raced to the cook house to indulge ourselves. On top of that, my baby sister is in Maine now for a visit - I will send her this picture of you to share if she see’s Bob. In fact, she moved out to Tucson as a young woman and actually stayed at Bob’s brother Dee’s house until she could find her own apartment. She met her husband there and still resides in Tucson. By the way, she bought the jug!

Camping at Chenango RV Park in NY with Nora next… stay tuned.