My first neighbor in Brainard, Mr. Wheeler, told me often that the weather here is always just a little different, here being east of Lord Hill and west of the mountain between here and Pittsfield. I myself tell people that if you look at a weather map and there’s a tiny finger of more extreme weather extending up from the Chatham area, Brainard is right at the tip of that finger. Weather seems to collect or divert depending on the direction and flow. Lately if I hear thunder I might drive one or two miles to the north or east in order to be in the middle of it.

The other night though, after a pretty hot sticky day I was driving home and as I reached the top of Lord Hill I was totally enveloped in fog. Low hanging clouds, fog, whatever you want to call it but visibility was quite low and just moments before it had been a normal summer evening. My mind went to descriptions of Transylvania because at the moment of peaking the hill, this came on the random-playing iPhone.

No one could have planned that better.