We note that this Sunday,
Dec. 20 will be the last
opportunity to partake of
the Alternative Market
held at the Presbyterian
Church from noon until 1
p.m.
The market features
Habitat for Humanity,
Heifer International, Blankets
for Church World Services,
Hand Crafts for Justice
and handmade items
including, among other
things, baby quilts, wall
hanging, placemats, table
toppers and aprons.
The Market is open to
the public and is, we think,
a great place to finish up
one’s Christmas shopping.
Although we do from
time to time think e-mail
can be absolutely annoying,
one of the things we
truly enjoy about e-mail is
how successful it is in
keeping us in touch with
people.
So we are always delighted
to discover when
we open our e-mail that
there is a missive from one
of those friends from whom
we have not heard for a
while.
And such was the case
when we found an e-mail
from Bob Hart who, many
years ago, covered for the
Cooperstown Veterinary
Clinic and had occasion to
treat our then dog Boeling.
Bob and his wife, Ronnie,
now reside in Florida
where they still do a lot of
theater work as well as a
lot of writing.
In fact, one of Ronnie’s
novels won first place in
the Florida Writers Association
annual competition
this year and is now in the
hands of an agent.
Plus Bob informed us
that: ``After many publishing
delays I can finally announce
the arrival of
``Hart’s Original Petpourri
Vol 1 Miscellany.’’
The anticipated delivery
date is Dec. 15. It has
been endorsed by Jack
Hanna, Director Emeritus,
Columbus Zoo Host, TV’s
``Into the Wild,’’ and Vic
Digenti, author of the
``Windrusher Trilogy.’’
The book will be available
from Barnes and Noble,
Amazon, and probably
other bookstores as it will
be listed in the principal
wholesale catalogues.’’
The book, which is billed
as ``Fact, Fancy, Trivia,
and Whimsy about Pets,
their Veterinarians, and
their Owners,’’ is also
available from Bob’s website:
Originaldrhart.com. He
further notes: ``We are now
accepting advance orders.
áIf you would like your
book autographed, please
purchase it from my website.’’
We thank Bob for
writing and wish them
both well with the new
book endeavor.
For the past two weekends,
the Ohio Ellsworths
have attended baby classes
in anticipation of Boo’s
January arrival.
The first weekend, the
classes covered labor and
delivery, which they immediately
subtitled ``What
Have We Done?’’
The following weekend
the classes covered the
first three months, which
received the subtitle ``You’ll
Never Sleep Again!’’
We understand the
classes went well and
Christopher even told us
he encountered no difficulty
in getting the diaper on
the practice doll.
We, of course, delighted
in pointing out to him that,
unlike the baby, the doll
didn’t wiggle. But then, we
suspect that Christopher
can always use the technique
that his father used
the few times he actually
changed a diaper.
When Jerry couldn’t get
Christopher to hold still,
he simply yelled at him,
scaring him so that the
only muscles he moved
were the ones needed to
cry.
From Jerry’s point of
view, this worked particularly
well as, not only could
he get the diaper changed,
we moved heaven and
earth to make certain that
Jerry changed a diaper as
infrequently as possible.
Hopefully, it is not a technique
that Christopher
will employ. Annie take
note!
We must admit that we
were forced, much against
our will, to celebrate yet
another birthday recently.
Normally, our birthdays do
not tend to bother us. But
this year seemed to be different
and we really don’t
know why.
We just turned 29 again
as we have for years now.
But, of course, while we
received a number of lovely
cards, we also received several
that we tend to assign
to the ``they know us too
well’’ category.
One such card came
from our friends at the Otsego
County Senior Meal
Site here in Cooperstown.
It read: ``Happy Birthday
to a great Ring Leader
Rabble Rouser!’’
We were stunned. How
on earth could they possibly
imagine that we, sweet
and docile as we are, could
be thought of as a ``Ring
Leader’’ let alone a ``Rabble
Rouser.’’ Of course, we
must admit that the card
we received from the Ohio
Ellsworths was equally
questionable. The
front of that card read:
``I used to live each day as
if it were my last, but people
got tired of me screaming,
`I’m Going to Die!! I’m
Going to Die!!’’’
Inside it said: ``It’s your
birthday. Be as dramatic
as you want.’’ What were
they thinking? When have
we ever been dramatic?
Ah, yes...they all know us
all too well.
This week’s quote, in
light of our recent birthday,
comes from George
Burns who said: ``If you
live to be one hundred,
you’ve got it made. Very
few people die past that
age.’’
We guess this means we
have to be 29 about 38
more times before we will
have it made.
PLEASE NOTE: Comments
regarding this column
may be made by mail
at 105 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown,
NY 13326, by
telephone at 607-547-8124
or by e-mail at
cellsworth1@stny.rr.com.
