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We have decided that the role of grandmother is quite to our liking. As we have been told any number of times, as a grandparent it is perfectly acceptable to hold, play with and fawn over the grandchild until such time as said grandchild becomes fussy. And then, and this is the best part, it is completely within the purview of the grandparent to return the fussy grandchild to the parents. We love it.
And we also loved our Fourth of July visit with The Widge, a.k.a Abby, who was here to take in the church service in which her grandfather, Gerald B. Ellsworth, was remembered as a notable of Christ Church, to dine, although she got nothing to eat, at the Blue Mingo, and attend a Fourth of July gathering at the home of Mary-Jo and Wolf Merk. And, not that we are in any way the least bit prejudiced, she was the model of five and one-half month old perfection at each event.
We were of course amazed at the amount of stuff with which she travels. She brings her own bed, high chair, stroller, clothes, diapers, toys and food. While in Cooperstown she was dining on homemade rice cereal and butternut squash. She has since added sweet potatoes to her plate. And we understand that all of her solid food will be homemade. None of that store bought stuff will pass her cute little lips which thus far seems to be just fine with her. In fact, if the food is not forthcoming at a rate to her liking she pounds her hand on the high chair tray as if to say ``more please.’’
And while The Widge’s stay in Cooperstown was ever so brief, we were invited by her Higby grandparents, Judy and Hal, to join them on Martha’s Vineyard for a few days after the Fourth of July while The Widge would be visiting there.
It was not an opportunity to be turned down and thus we were quite happy to motor off to Woods Hole, Massachusetts to catch the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. Of course, we made that trip on what was perhaps the hottest day of the year thus far.
Consequently, we were extremely happy to be able to find handicapped parking on the dock at the Steamship Authority, which runs the ferries to the island. Doing so meant we could load our luggage on our faithful walker, the Red Rocket, and then transfer it to the ferry’s luggage cart before boarding the ferry. We boarded using the auto ramp which then allowed us to take the elevator to the very deck on which we were able to purchase our trip’s first taste of New England Clam Chowder.
All in all, we must give the Steamship Authority high marks for their accommodation of handicapped passengers. All of the crew members were extremely solicitous of our needs, making certain that we were able to negotiate our ferry crossing with a minimum of difficulty. Of course we must admit that we found it rather disconcerting to have them stop loading the vehicles that were to make the crossing so that we could make the much easier walk up the auto ramp instead of the much longer and much steeper pedestrian ramp. But we are nonetheless most grateful for the treatment accorded us and salute the Steamship Authority for a job well done. And, of course, we love their clam chowder.
And we also loved our visit to Martha’s Vineyard. And while we might be tempted to say that much of our visit consisted of waiting endlessly in traffic and sitting hopefully in front of a fan, those two somewhat unpleasant undertakings were far overshadowed by other events. We quite enjoyed our two trips to the beach which we hasten to point out is about two more beach visits than we normally make in a year.
Granted, the Red Rocket has issues when it comes to sand, but The Widge’s father was able to simultaneously pull both baby stroller and the Red Rocket through the sand.
And while we sunburned our knees, we are most happy to report that The Widge, who had enough suntan lotion on her to qualify for greased pig status, was able to maintain her creamy complexion. We also greatly enjoyed breakfast at the Black Dog and yet another tour of the Martha’s Vineyard Campmeeting Association in Oak Bluffs.
All in all, it was yet again another wonderful visit to Martha’s Vineyard and we thank the Higby’s for inviting us. This was our fourth trip to the island and we do believe that we have decided, at least in our opinion, that the best time to visit Martha’s Vineyard is the same best time to visit Cooperstown, namely between September 15 and May 15. But this assessment is made based on our desire to avoid crowds at all costs. However, if that is not a concern, we hasten to note that both Martha’s Vineyard and Cooperstown have much to offer during the summer season.
In closing, while musing over a possible quote for this week’s column we came upon one by Bill Laurin who said: ``If I would have known that grandchildren were going to be so much fun I would have had them first.’’ We must admit that we are not quite certain how that might work, but we must say that we absolutely understand the sentiment.
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