Postcards : Berkshire County Lakes and Ponds

"Card Lake, West Stockbridge, Mass."

With the summer of 2010 shaping up to be one of the warmest on record, telling someone to "go jump in the lake" doesn't quite carry the stinging ring of dissonance it once might have. Indeed, suggesting a dive in the lake may even be considered an act of benevolence as the mercury pushes higher and higher on the Fahrenheit scale.

One never has far to go in Western Massachusetts in the quest for cool, crisp and clear water: Another blessing to count when drawing up the list.

For generations, local families have escaped the sticky cares of hot towns and cities for short-drive perches lakeside, quick bursts of warm summer memories stored for long, cold winter months like so many canned tomatoes and dated jars of piccalilli. Water bodies banked with smiles young and old, happy shouts, barbecues and badminton. At night, flashlights and toasted marshmallows and fireflies compete with a billion stars joining overhead. Damp, sandy towels drying on the line for tomorrow. In Western Massachusetts, we thaw with our lakes and ponds and sparkle radiant under the same sun.

These postcards of Berkshire County bodies of water were borrowed from the ImageMuseum (http://imagemuseum.smugmug.com), an excellent website put together by Jim and Russ Birchall with thousands of vintage Western Massachusetts postcards and photographs (and more) to peruse. Captions in quotes are from the postcards.

"Otis Pond looking West"

"Green Water Pond, Jacobs Ladder Roadway, West Becket, Mass."

"Shaw Lake Near Lee, Mass."

"Scene on Onoto* Lake, Pittsfield, Mass."

"Pontoosuc Lake showing Greylock Mountain, Pittsfield, Mass."

Okay...ready for a swim? Here's a cool website for locating local swimming holes in Massachusetts: http://www.swimmingholes.org/ma.html.

Remember be safe: Swim with a friend!

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.


*Onota

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