This was, as Cia put it, both a busy and relaxing day. We started in the misty morning, after our breakfast on the screened porch, with a 45-minute kayak paddle around the lake, and lucky for us, we  saw two great blue herons and one bald eagle. The herons apparently have a home near our cottage, and as we paddled among some weeds and downed limbs along the shore, we heard a loud squawking, and the herons then lifted majestically up and made their way around the bend with smoothly flapping wings.  The bald eagle was sitting almost motionless high up in a tree
on the other side of the lake. We paddled as silently as possible and got a good look at him. 

* searching for great blue herons *

     Later, we picked up our picnic food at a market in Lenox and drove over to Tanglewood for a concert by The Boston Symphony Orchestra. We sat in the shade and enjoyed our picnic, complete with a stunning view of the purple-shaded Berkshire hills in the distance, and then strolled around the beautiful grounds until the concert began. And . . . it was a total winner (as usual for the BSO). One of the all-time great soloists, Pinchas Zuckerman, played Beethoven's violin concerto, and then the orchestra brilliantly performed a 20th century choral piece by William Walton. I am not a great fan of modern symphonic music, but I was deeply moved by the flawless performance. And the Beethoven was simply magnificent. How lucky can a couple of 70+ folks get??

* Cia reading the program before the concert *

* Our view of the Berkshire hills as we enjoyed our picnic *