Morgan Bulkeley's Berkshires

Morgan Bulkeley, Sr. is one of the Berkshires' greatest treasures.  During the 1960s and 1970s, his "My Berkshires" column in the Berkshire Eagle animated the land, people, history and ecology of this special place with the keen eye of the naturalist and the sensitivity of a writer who studied with Robert Frost.  In 2004, the cream of more than 750 of these articles was lovingly edited by another great local writer Jon Swan and illustrated by local artist Morgan Bulkeley, Jr.   Published as Berkshire Stories, it abounds in exquisite story-telling and fascinating details about the history, nature, people and conservation of our region. 

"Have you ever held a spark of life in your palm?  One ten-year old boy will never forget it.  He was plying a butterfly net about the honey-suckled lattice of the summer cottage when all at once he had 'the tiny, pulsing, burnished green-gold gem' that is a ruby-throated hummingbird.  He rushed to show it to the one who had given him his own spark.  Little fingers opened gingerly, and the mystery, held for a moment, vanished into summer air, gone but not forgotten..."

I highly recommend you purchase a copy.  This blog can only aspire to write as evocatively about the topics that Bulkeley so masterfully reveals.

Comments

[Martty Langeland]

Ah yes!
Once the big black and white tom, who we called "Tortellini" because we were told it was Sicilian for "Tough Guy", Was patrolling the garden path between my daughter (about 8) and her Grandparents. A humming bird flitted near and Tort reared back on his hind legs, swooped his front paws together like a single applause and -- by gum! he caught the beauty between them. I was amazed. My in-laws were astonished, My daughter became intently curious and, as time stood still, Tort was the most awe struck of us all. Or maybe we all went up to the hummingbird's super fast perception of time. Whatever, Tort opened his paws and the flash was gone, unharmed, releasing us all.
The cat got quite busy cleaning his ruff.
--ml

[Sissy Willis]

I adore the cover illustration. 'Reminds me of the American Primitive I've often compared the Chelsea Grays to:

http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2005/12/babe_strikes_an.html