Art, Gelato and an Ice Castle

Winter has returned. Snow falling steadily, the landscape soft and white. The robins and songbirds that magically appeared last week, gone again. The forest quiet, save an occasional crow cawing into the muted softness. Last weekend, a trip north, and across the river to Hanover, New Hampshire. On the frozen shore of Occom Pond, a blue ice castle under construction, blocks cut from the pond. In town, an art exhibit and scoops of heavenly gelato. Works celebrating the history and legacy of the Artist-in-Residence Program at Dartmouth College, spanning over eighty years, more than eighty artists represented. Galleries suffused with color and light, a broad spectrum of mediums. Works steeped in a love of the sea, rooted in folklore and mystery, serious and playful, moody and sun-drenched. References to distant shores and local lore, personal stories and abstract narratives, natural and synthetic materials. Nature and art, sandwiched between (not one, but two) stops at Morano Gelato. A perfect winter escape, close to home, nourishment for heart, body and (sweet) tooth.