Favorite Places 6Favorite Places 6

This week starts a new feature in which we'll share short stories about our favorite places. Editor at large Clinton Wilder starts things off:

Describing Chautauqua as a lakeside summer arts and culture community in southwestern New York state sounds enticing enough. But what has drawn me there every summer of my life is so much more.

It's fresh corn and steak from the grill behind the cottage, followed by a symphony concert or movie a short walk away. It's the grocery-store butcher who remembers me every year. It's the sailing, the golf, the screen doors you don't have to lock at night, the sweet air, the lifelong friends.

Most of all, it's reconnection. A place that changes little, almost preserved in time, is a place to reflect on the changes that time has wrought in my life and on the world since my last visit. Next summer, I suspect I'll need that more than ever.

Send a brief account of your Favorite Place to [email protected] and [email protected].