I liked the feel of Saratoga Springs itself as a town. This part of NY state is called "The North Country" according to the bus schedules. I like this regional name, as it makes me think of Bob Dylan's song, "Girl from the North Country". There are a great many more bars in the town, more than Peterborough had anyway. I walked the 1.5 miles from my hotel past the empty horse racing tracks to the art colony of Yaddo and was shocked at what I saw and felt. The Yaddo gardens are the only area open to the public but from the main lawn, there is a terrific view of the main house, the original house in which the Trask family who built Yaddo lived, a greying and decaying austere old mansion towering over the grounds. The main house where apparently the administration runs the colony during much of the year. As I walked up the long road from the entrance to the grounds up to the public garden, it did not feel so different than MacDowell at first. Forest and creeks, absolute quiet, not a soul around. But upon seeing the main house, the only way I can put it is that I got a really bad vibe. That sounds totally "L.A.", but the place felt lonely, cold, and privileged in the worst most disconnected and disengaged sense. When I talked to one of the townies, a massage therapist at the Crystal Spas, later about my impressions, she said, well that's it, it's not a colony, it's a place where people go to be alone and work really hard on their art. Hmmmm.... that in combination with some of the snob and snub stories I heard from Laura Hendrie about some of the New Yorkers she encountered while at the colony sort of fill out the picture, not so much a community of working artists so much as a retreat situation.

What stays with me about MacDowell and its magic is that it was built on love - the love of Marion for her composer husband Edward. The old barn which they renovated, the first log cabin that still stands on the grounds, a gift to her beloved. Their graves on the land itself, where they lie side by side. The land a product of a dream and hope fulfilled.