TheCapeBlog

Justin and Jean worked unceasingly today to break down dozens of boxes (I need to count ’em) and place shelves and their contents against the walls of the garage.

It’ll be much easier for us to empty and sort the boxes that are left and to place furniture in the house.

Ryan and his coworker Bill came over to take down the awning and nail back the fascia board. He capped off the live electrical wires, which were my big worry.

The person who claimed to want the king bed finally punked out, to my relief.

I met the town Treasurer today. She sold me a transfer station sticker at the January price and a sheet of stickers for household trash. Very down to earth woman, helpful and friendly, welcome change.

Ron wasn’t able to open an account at the credit union, was lacking a social security card (huh?). He’s off to grocery shop.

Lizzie and I went for a brief walk this morning. I cleaned off the deck a bit to make it easier for her to get around. Got cold and dark this afternoon.

Made appointments with a vet and an electrician. Renewed registration for the truck. Ron deposited over $600 in refund checks to my credit union account.

Found no fewer than three Social Security cards for Ron in our strong box, thus saving him a trip to the nearest office for a replacement.

This morning, I filed complaints about Colony Moving with the AG’s office and Better Business Bureau.

I also wrote a Google review.

Their snotty online answer (no direct communication) to my earlier Yelp review was non-responsive, to put it kindly.

Just got a notice from WaPo that Twitter users have recommended that Musk step down.

The Patriots managed to indelibly mar Bill Belichick’s reputation with lamebrain moves by Rhamondre Stevenson and Jakobi Meyers, both of whom were either seized by temporary insanity or were attempting to execute the worst play call in NFL history.

Oh, well, it’s only money and only a game.

Yesterday we stopped in to the Berkshire Grown Winter Farmers Market at Greylock Works and came home with a nice collection of vegetables, cheeses, bread, jams and pastry.

The event was well-attended and it was a good opportunity to check out the restaurant and shops at Greylock Works. Ron bought some hard cider from one.

We got a recommendation from one farmer/vendor for a road trip to a quarry in Vermont. Had a long conversation with a firefighter about a vote in February for a new fire station.

I’m hoping for a bunch of things to get done over the next couple of days, including clearing out/organizing the garage, rehanging the upstairs bathroom door and possibly a trip or two to the transfer station to get rid of the king bed, empty moving boxes and trash.

It would be good to get the bed frame and IKEA book case put together as well.

Finally, I’d like to get Lizzie lined up for a visit to a vet to examine her rear paws.

We’ll have help but it still feels like moving a mountain.

I thought briefly of offering some of gain from the Dixon sale to pay off all or part Ron’s long-term credit card balance.

Then I tried this morning to navigate around his piles of junk in the porch and garage to find the Little Green and the shop vac and thought better of it.

I paid a fortune to move to Williamstown, and it shouldn’t have been necessary for a lot of reasons, one of which is the amount of useless stuff that Ron has insisted on hauling from one place to another for years.

We filled three floors of Dixon, something I hadn’t even thought of when I shopped for a new place to live. The square footage of Henderson is theoretically 75% larger than Dixon (1463 square feet versus 832), but it isn’t enough to fully accommodate all of “our” possessions.

The main reason that the move was so expensive, though, is that I made the mistake of hiring a company that employs a lunatic to manage our move. And that one’s on me.

we gained a door.

Last night, I noticed that the retractable awning fell, taking a chunk of fascia with it.

The awning had been positioned in such a way that it prevented the door to the porch from opening fully. I never investigated why.

Poor Lizzie got herself stuck behind boxes this morning. She woke Ron up last night. She trumped revoltingly in the living room. I took her out to leak around 5:30.

Of course I can’t find the Little Green to get a start on cleaning the carpet. In fact, that’s only one of several things we can’t find, including our shop vac. The pile of goods in the garage is beyond disgusting. I can’t believe how much I paid for this moving disaster.

Still haven’t found Ron’s computers, and it’s really bothering me.

Ron is obsessing about removing snow from the roof. Ryan explained we don’t need to do that until it’s about a foot deep.

Speaking of Ryan, he was here to plow, but someone beat him to it. Asked Jesse to see if the sellers had a service that we should contact to continue. Ryan thought it might be that or maybe a good-hearted neighbor.

Went to the Moonlight Diner for brunch: big veg omelets and really good home fries.

Went to Grammercy Bistro for an artist open house and 5.1% cider. Pretty good kick for apple juice.

And when we got back, we finally – finally – gave Lizzie a long-wished for bath. Wished for by me, probably not her, but she was good as gold. She’s too big for the set tub so we used the downstairs shower, and it worked out pretty well. Ron did a great job with her and I figure she’s got to be more comfortable now that she’s clean.

It’s easy to find the Williams College Museum of Art (artmuseum.williams.edu, 413-597-2429) in Williamstown, Massachusetts — just look for Louise Bourgeois’s gigantic eye sculpture, made of forged bronze, on the lawn out front. In fact, the “eyes” have it in this bucolic area in the northwest corner of the state. There’s art everywhere you look.

Set in the green, rolling valley between the Berkshire Hills and the Hoosic River, Williamstown, along with its neighbor, North Adams, is a country oasis for art lovers. The art museum is a good place to start a visit. Some of the works in its venerable collection are studied in art history classes at the school. But WCMA also has a contemporary edge, best reflected in its temporary exhibits. A multi-gallery installation of Mary Ann Unger’s graphic art and large-scale abstract sculptures runs through December 22. Stroll the campus to see 13 other sculptures in the college’s outdoor sculpture collection.

You can stretch your legs on the five hiking trails that crisscross the Clark Art Institute (clarkart.edu, 413-458-2303) campus. Along the way, you might encounter site-specific artwork or pass grazing cows. The permanent collection here is especially rich in French Impressionism and works from late 19th-century American painters. For a change of pace, an exhibition featuring the satirical skulls and skeleton prints and drawings of José Guadalupe Posada, on display through October 10, foreshadows Day of the Dead commemorations.

Six miles east in North Adams, the former mill buildings of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, better known as Mass MoCA (massmoca.org, 413-662-2111), encourage contemporary artists and curators to think big. The Sol LeWitt retrospective occupies nearly an acre of gallery walls. A sound installation (Allovers by Ryan Olson and Seth Rosetter) converts the stairwell and basement of a building into a gigantic, interactive musical instrument.

The Mass MoCA campus offers even more opportunities to feel the area’s artistic vibe. It includes excellent galleries such as ROAM: A Xtina Parks Gallery (roamgallery.photo, 413-663-8000), which features contemporary African art, and Ferrin Contemporary (ferrincontemporary.com, 413-346-4004), which focuses on ceramics. Sip a craft brew at Bright Ideas Brewing (brightideasbrewing.com, 413-346-4460) while you contemplate a purchase. Back in Williamstown, Greylock Gallery (greylockgallery.com, 413-884-6926) represents realist painters from New England and upstate New York.

What to Eat

In addition to student-oriented sandwich shops and pubs, Williamstown boasts fine dining. Mezze Bistro + Bar (mezzerestaurant.com, 413-458-0123) commands a gorgeous setting south of downtown, where the contemporary, prix fixe dinner features local products. Lamb kebabs and tagines lend a Turkish accent to the Mediterranean tastes at Pera Bistro (perabistro.com, 413-458-8676). The accent is French at Gramercy Bistro (gramercybistro.com, 413-458-6222). If you decide to check out the art house Images Cinema (imagescinema.org, 413-458-5612, mask required), the nearby Gramercy is the perfect spot for a bite after a movie.

Where to Stay

The Brookside Country Inn rooms at 1896 House Country Inn (1896house.com, 413-458-1896; from $99) are decorated in a rustic, Colonial style. And, its barn-restaurant building houses suites with fireplaces and whirlpool tubs. For a dose of midcentury modernism, book one of six rooms at the Guest House at Field Farm (thetrustees.org/place/field-farm-guest-house, 413-458-3135; from $299). Here, modern sculptures owned by the Williams College Museum of Art grace the grounds. For a 21st-century hipster take on a tourist motel, try the whimsical Tourists (touristswelcome.com, 413-347-4995; from $279) in North Adams.

It’s 6:12, she just woke up, and I’ve had a little over an hour and a half to myself, which has been very good.

Unfortunately, she leaked on the carpet, floor and mostly the ugly green rug. Then trumped.

We’ve received little snow and it’s expected to end by noon. Grateful for the break!

Ron has all of his meds: miraculous. I reimbursed him $200, which was more than my innocent error in changing Part D carriers cost him, but honor is honor and anyway, I wanted him to shut up. We did get him signed up for his original insurer for January 1, and depending on the med, he has 6-12 week supplies to get him well into the new year.

From this chart, it looked to me as if Wellcare has a higher Annual Estimate than Aetna. Guess I was wrong.

These towns include Becket, Blandford, Chester, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Granville, Hawley, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Otis, Plainfield, Russell, Westhampton, Williamsburg, Windsor, and Worthington.