when in Connecticut...

I just arrived in the burgeoning burg of Norfolk, CT yesterday. My quartet is here for six weeks playing in a music festival run by Yale and the Tokyo String Quartet. I've gotta admit... I haven't exactly been thrilled by this prospect. Don't get me wrong; I am excited to study with TSQ and all, but you need to understand. The town is soooo small. Before arrival I was informed that it used to have a bar. I thought, wow. You've got to be kidding me... a town so small it can't even support a bar!? Don't worry. We spotted one on the way in. Not that i'll be going there. Ever. On the other hand, if I get the sudden urge to buy useless old junk, I did see three antiques shops. So there is civilization here. But really folks, small SMALL town. And small, Small, SMALL festival. I think there will be less than thirty of us here all summer. If the people are cool, (and so far they seem to be) it should be fun. We're all staying in people's homes in the community. So far, I think I totally lucked out there. My hosts are these lovely Brits named Simon and Annette, their son Julian, and their dog Nigel. It doesn't get much more British than that. The best part is that they live in a lovely home, and I'm living in a large guest apartment out back! I have a living room and kitchen and large room, and while there is supposed to be someone in the other room here, they haven't yet shown up. I'm thinking they may be a member of one of the professional quartets coming later in the summer. That would be fantastic, because then I'd have the place to myself, really. So far, so good. There is one puzzling thing though, this sentence from the welcome letter given me by Simon: "we recommend keeping your doors unlocked. Also, keep the outside lights on. Beware the bear!" Hmmm. Should be an interesting summer.