—
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.
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.
In These Otsego Hills
In These Otsego Hills: Travels with The Widge...
- In These Otsego Hills
-
-
In These Otsego Hills: The losses are adding up ...
It is with sadness that we note the passing of long time friend, and distantrelative, Jane Patrick. Over the years we have worked with Jane in a number of organizations including Women’s Club and the Community Advisory Committee at Bassett. And, of course, in later years we joined her, along with the other Dinner Belles, for any number of delicious meals. But we do think that our favorite memory that we shared with Jane was when we discovered, having both married Cooperstown natives, that we shared Cooperstown Christmas plans.
-
In These Otsego Hills: This and that ...
We have found the weather so far this year to be on the unusual side. And while we have no problem with the fact that we have received very little snow, we are of the opinion that what we have had instead is not particularly to our liking either. In fact, we are very hesitant to venture out much as we live in fear that the rain will turn to mixed precipitation which will freeze into a sheet of ice. And we are definitely opposed to encountering a sheet of ice underfoot. In fact, we are so hesitant that we now have taken to canceling our participation in events based on what just might be a dubious forecast.
-
In These Otsego Hills: ‘Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist.’ − John Adams
Last week we were asked if we would be interested in previewing a documentary, “The Empire State Divide,”produced by the Foundation for Land & Liberty. And we were more than happy to do so as we understood the documentary dealt with the problems that continue to face family farms.
-
In These Otsego Hills: Goals of the past and goals of the future
We have long subscribed to the concept that we are always more successful if we, number one, set a goal and then, number two, meet it. And this was our thinking when we decided before Christmas to watch at least part of every college football bowl game. It was perhaps an odd, if not completely nonsensical, goal.
-
In These Otsego Hills: Not to our liking ...
It is with sadness that we note the recent death of Steve Nagel. The son-inlaw of our late husband’s cousins, Alice and Harvey Eckler of Fly Creek, Steve was married to the Ecklers’ oldest daughter, Gail. We had the pleasure of spending Christmas Eve with the Nagels and the Ecklers in Fly Creek, greatly enjoying the delicious food and delightful conversation.
-
In These Otsego Hills: Always a learning experience ...
We must admit that we thoroughly enjoyed our 2011 Christmas celebration. We partook of Christmas Eve dinner at the home of Alice and Harvey Eckler of Fly Creek and Christmas Day dinner at the home of Sandy and Al Bullard of Milford. We had our usual Christmas Day brunch at home on Pioneer Street, although we must admit it was a tad bit later than usual as, what we enjoyed most about Christmas, namely our granddaughter Abby, took a great deal of time opening her Christmas presents.
-
In These Otsego Hills: Coming up ... 2012
Difficult as it seems, 2011 is fast coming to an end. And it is always our hope that as a year draws to a close, the issues which have been in the forefront during the year will be resolved. Unfortunately, we suspect that will not be the case this year. Instead, we are fairly certain that many of the issues that plagued this year, will continue to plague next year. Thus we will find ourselves still musing about the same issues we have spent time with already. And while we have not come toany conclusions about many of the issues, we do think they would all likely benefit from both sides thinking critically about perspective, risk assessment and possible solutions.
-
In These Otsego Hills: The 2011 Cooperstown Carol
Since 1984, with the exception of one year, 1999, we have looked forward at the end of the year to going through all the issues of the paper in order to glean those news items which have been worthy of note throughout the year and which should make their way into our annual Cooperstown Carol.
-
In These Otsego Hills: Dear Santa ...
Although we tend to think Christmas is for children and thus rarely think about what we might like to have, this year we have decided to let Santa know what might be left under the tree with our name on it. Of course, we fully understand if our list is a bit long, a bit expensive and a bitlate. However, we have just finished reading our November issue of Health and so have just realized what we need that we do not currently have.
-
In These Otsego Hills: Another year under our belt …
Belated birthday greetings go out this week to Aline Heller, who last week celebrated one of those notable birthdays that end with a zero. In fact, if our math is correct, this is the ninth such zero ending birthday that Aline has celebrated. Thus we trust that she was properly feted by family and friends and enjoys many happy returns.
- More In These Otsego Hills Headlines
-
In These Otsego Hills: The losses are adding up ...
