The Buffalo and the black plactic around the tennis court

The town of Lenox has several resorts and inns that serve the many tourists coming here for the cultural events, to be with nature and just escape. Some quite luxurious and where the celebrity set is found and some are modest and there is much in between. A short distance from where I live is a resort named Eastover. www.eastover.com It is an interesting place. A little on the rustic side [some say tired] and definitely on the casual side. It has one of the largest civil war memorabilia coolections and also has tennis and pools and lots of activities and hosts events such a the special Olympics and many event weekends. It is set among woods and has great tracks of pasture land that run for miles up against the ridge. One of the unique attractions of Eastover is a herd of buffalo that live on the property. They can be seen from the road grazing in the meadows and there is a hay drop by the main road with a pullover for folks to stop and see them feed by this unbelievably muddy pond. The buffalo are fun to watch especially when a new little one is born, though if you didn’t know it was there you might drive right by the small turnoff. When my kids were little it was often a routine stop to check them out and as I drive past now there is frequently a car pulled off with people peering over the fence.

A definite sign of summer is that each year about this time the fence around the Eastover tennis courts is wrapped completely in black plastic with wood supports to keep it from flapping in the wind. When we first saw this it seemed odd. Especially because the plastic seemed to appear mid week and then by the next week it was gone and things were back to normal.

Then we learned that the black covering signified “nudist weekend” at the resort and one of the agreements with the town for allowing nudity was that the tennis courts be shielded from passers by. When the kids were young, my son joked about seeing a nude body between the slits in the plastic and his reaction was, EEWWWWWWWWW. That continues to be a part of family lore and the image of nude tennis still brings a smile.

So, on this first day of summer when you think of the signs that tell you that summer is here, I offer up another that is a sign of summer in this section of the Berkshires, the black plastic around the tennis court.

Summer is here. Welcome visitors to the Berkshires.