AWAY FROM THE CROWDS: A WALK IN THE WOODS

In our summertime treks to Lenox, MA, we never fail to stop at Chesterwood, the summer home and studio of Daniel Chester French, who created the Minuteman statue in Concord, MA, and most importantly, the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C. With a prospect to Monument Mountain in Glendale, MA,  French considered it the "greatest view possible ... without water."

There's a restful woodland walk which is populated every summer by a curated sculpture exhibit -- some 25 or so works nestled in woodland grottos, in the trees, on the lawns and meadows. Here are a couple of favorite animal sculptures from this year's collection:  a herd of cattle that's a flat panel cut from steel (Ironherd by Anne Huibregtse), but which looks like it stretches back into the meadow, and a hollow bear constructed from old barn wood (Bear Walking by Robert Rothschild), which captures "bearness" in its details  as you move around it.

There's a even an idyllic picnic area in an old apple orchard. Chesterwood is a little-known treasure, just 1/4 mile from the Norman Rockwell Museum (which gets much more traffic).