happy birthday to you...

ann and dabney returned to the scene of the crime (a.k.a. their wedding) when they headed to mass moca and the porches inn for ann's birthday late last week. both ann and dabney love north adams, and the trip allowed them to relive their much-adored wedding weekend. except, much to the porches' delight, this time ann kept her clothes on while drunk in the hot tub in the middle of the night.



it was a tough surprise for dabney to pull off. ann knew something was up when dabney arose at 6:45 am and was an immediate whirlwind of activity - all highly unusual. usually it takes her until noon to just open both eyes, let alone make breakfast, secretly pack the car, and take feidler to the dogsitter's. when ann got out of bed, the dog's absence was a quick tip off that something was up. after giving ann the runaround for a couple of minutes, "feidler is out front. no? he must be in the backyard," dabney 'fessed up.

it would turn out to be a museum-themed birthday. after a delicious lunch at oishi (sea urchin! salmon roe! sweet potato!), they revisited the quilts of gee's bend at the mfa, via an audio tour featuring the voices of the quilters telling stories and singing their favorite hymns. once in the berkshires, they also went to mass moca. here's a montage of the exhibits they saw:

cai guo-qiang: inopportune


the knitting machine


becoming animal: contemporary art in the animal kingdom