I'm posting from the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY. What a wonderful place!
I'm here for a music seminar and I have been enchanted by the countryside and this remarkable community by Chautauqua Lake. As I look out the second story window of the Smith Memorial Library I can see towering elms with mixed foliage.
I visited the famous amphitheater just behind the library earlier this afternoon and a lone trombonist was practicing in the gallery, enjoying the rich acoustics of the place.
The weather couldn't be better--crisp, cool, sunny and invigorating after many months of Florida humidity. My B&B, the Plumbush Inn, is a two-story beauty from 1865 which has been refurbished lovingly by a couple who are natives of the area and purchased the house two years ago. It perches atop a gentle hill with a sloping lawn leading to the farm at the bottom of the hill, behind which rises a small mountain. The B&B even has a widow's walk.
Now I have a visual image to go along with the music I have heard for years on Music from Chautauqua broadcasts! I have to say it looks as much different from my mental image of it as did Ravinia when I finally saw it several years ago. That is no problem, as I'm still capable of adjusting my images of reality. Now if only our local NPR affiliate in Tampa would carry the broadcasts!
