Friday, August 1, 2008

A Diner on 22, North of Harlemville


I live in Pittsfield. You probably have never heard of Pittsfield unless you are from this area. But there is a place a few miles from here that is world famous and almost like a religious shrine, and that is Tanglewood where the Boston Symphony Orchestra preforms in the summer.

This location is very popular with New Yorkers who drive up here on Friday night and stay until Sunday. The drive takes three hours. Tanglewood is a profound cultural and aesthetic experience, thousands of people buy lawn tickets and sit out on a blanket under the stars, drink wine and listen to Beethoven.

When the weekend is over they pack up their things get into cars and drive back to Manhattan. The route to New York from here that is considered the best is not an interstate but a local road called Route 22.

So it happens that many a person after a weekend of culture, stops at one of the numerous diners on Route 22 late at night for some bacon, eggs and coffee. This seems to me like the best of two worlds.

This drawing measures 3.75” x 9.75”. It is drawn on tinted cold press watercolor paper with a soft graphite pencil. It is signed with an R on the front and full signature and date on the back Richard Britell August 6, 2001.

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