The Berkshires
Richard and Pauline Nault are long-time Honeywell friends and a couple we have enjoyed traveling and visiting with for many years. It’s always fun to be with them, either at one of our homes or theirs (they currently have a winter home in Dunnellon, Florida and on Lake Buehl in eastern Massachusetts (the Berkshires). After living in several homes in the area, they decided to renovate the old family cottage on the lake and this was our first visit. Actually, we had booked a room at a local B&B since they had just moved in three days earlier and were still getting settled but they insisted we stay with them and it worked out well.




Their cottage is so charming which is a result of their decision to retain as much as possible of the original structure: the living room, kitchen, and screened porch; and converting the two tiny bedrooms to a bathroom and walk-in closet for the master bedroom they added. Off the kitchen, there’s a covered walkway that leads to a guest bedroom and bath, which is where we stayed, and beyond that a garage. The cottage is just steps away from the lake on a nice wooded lot and we enjoyed watching the wildlife including water birds and an occasional rabbit.
The first evening, we drove into Stockbridge, and had a delightful dinner at a historical landmark, The Red Lion Inn. This is such a beautiful part of the country with its charming colonial towns and villages - I felt that I’d taken a step back in time and could picture our country’s forebears planning the formation of the colonies, rebelling against the king and signing the declaration of independence. The next day, we did a bit of a walking tour of Great Barrington and enjoyed lunch at one of their favorite cafes.
Pauline’s dinner was of course wonderful (she’s such a good cook), but the most memorable event took place after dinner. It was a beautiful, clear night and, as we sat and talked after dinner, Richard asked if anyone wanted to go for a swim in the lake. Assuming the water would be icy cold, I hesitated but said I might. The next thing we knew, Richard was stripping off his clothes and jumping in the lake. He said it wasn’t cold at all, so I decided to go for it. Well, it was surprisingly a very moderate temperature and I felt I could have stayed in for hours. The next morning Richard thanked me for joining him in the lake and said he’d been coming to that lake for 75 years and it was the first time he’d gone skinny dipping. We’ll have to make that a tradition each time we return to Lake Buehl.
We got an early start, on June 5th, for our two-day drive to Minneapolis to spend time with kids and grandkids.