Compass A&E

We have so many extraordinary libraries in our region and two absolute gems of small, responsive book stores in Oblong Books and Music in Millerton, N.Y., and the Bookloft in Great Barrington, Mass.

But I secretly crave old books. Pre-loved, as Subaru likes to say of their cars.

Who sets the course when it comes to love? Do we truly have a choice in the people we fall in love with, or do forces beyond our means dictate where our hearts go?

Three horrified kids cower in a graveyard, as their redheaded friend is jolted upward in the air, ragged with terror.

Why does July feel so innocent? Perhaps it’s because children are out of school and even the most jaded, urbanized adults find themselves being towed along to sweet summer activities behind a child, a grandchild, a nephew or niece, or even a beloved pet, bowled over with the excitement of being outside and maybe getting to snatch a hot dog.

The arts in the Berkshires are back in full swing this summer, and the gorgeous Jacob’s Pillow campus in Becket, Mass., is already thrumming with dance and music.

I guess this is what it means to have cultural myopia: When we talk about the national French holiday held every July 14, even though it’s called Bastille Day, I tend to think of it as French Independence Day, an extension of our own celebration 10 days earlier.

It might seem counter-intuitive to look at wispy, floaty images of beautiful women, often in country settings and think of them as rebellious, but that in fact is what they are.

This has been the summer of author Madeleine L’Engle, at least here in Litchfield County, Conn., where the author spent much of her later life (she and her husband even owned the general store in Goshen, Conn., for many years).