Thursday, August 12, 2004
In these Otsego hills
We understand that the recent Willie Nelson/Bob Dylan concert was quite enjoyable, in spite of the somewhat lower than expected temperature. We had thought that we would enjoy the concert from the comfort of the front porch, but the temperature was a definite detraction to our idea of comfort. And, surprisingly enough, we could not even hear the opening act and could only hear the music from Willie Nelson's performance. Bob Dylan, on the other hand, found us repairing to the back porch where the music was not quite so loud. Consequently, we were not surprised by the reports of the concert being way too loud from some friends returning to our house to collect their cars from our driveway. Needless to say, the under 30 set, who was staying with us, did not find the concert loud at all. They did, however, express a fair amount of disappointment that while Willie Nelson did songs which sounded familiar, Bob Dylan for the most part did not. And we must admit that the only song we recognized from Bob Dylan was one we refer to as "Like a Rolling Stone." We have no idea if that is actually the title. Nonetheless, we gathered that the concert goers did enjoy themselves even if part of the time some of them had their fingers in their ears.
However, we gather, from the reports which we got, that there were issues with both bathroom facilities and trash receptacles. Evidently it was thought that there were not enough of either. In fact, one of our overnight guests observed two gentleman, and we think we use the term loosely in this case, urinating without benefit of facilities, one just steps from a port-a-john and one conveniently in Willow Brook. And we doubt that either of these instances were a result of women taking over the men's room located in the grandstand, a fact which the wee-we discovered when he made his way to the bathroom.
Another report which we received concerned the fact that people were picking up handfuls of Doubleday Field dirt and shoving them into their pockets. Evidently, there was a small patch of the infield that was not cordoned off, leaving the dirt ripe for the picking. Quite frankly, since we do not believe that the dirt is at all indigenous to the field, the lure of having some of it quite escapes us. But evidently, the people helping themselves were most pleased with their booty. If memory serves us correctly, the infield dirt used to come from somewhere in New Jersey. However, we have no idea if that is still the case.
And, although we fully expected someone would park across our driveway during the concert, we were most pleased to discover that was not the case. And it was a good thing too because we had a number of requests for parking from family and friends. Our next door neighbors, however, were not as fortunate. While we were sitting out on the porch just as the concert was getting underway, a car parked very near our neighborhood's driveway and the occupants of the car were obviously discussing whether or not they were too close to the driveway. Since we already had a number of cars in the yard, we inquired if they would like to park in our yard and thus eliminate their concerns about parking on the street. Since they had been searching for a parking spot for twenty minutes, they were most pleased to be offered an off street parking space. However, it would seem that our attempts to keep our neighbors driveway clear was for naught.
When we returned to the front porch after dinner, we realized that another car, this one sporting a turtle top, was parked with its rear wheels even with the edge of our neighbor's driveway which meant that the entire trunk section of the car was across the driveway. We were so stunned that we wandered over to see if what we saw was really true. And, alas, it was. However, as we viewed the car we realized that a fair amount of what could well be termed graffiti decorated the turtle top. And most telling, we thought, was that fact that over an arrow pointing to the passenger seat, it said "The guy below, is an ass." We will have to give him credit for at least knowing what he is.
And, although we did not take in the concert this past week, we did manage to take in "Freemasonry in Cooperstown: the Embodiment of Community Service," the current exhibit on the third floor of the Smithy-Pioneer Gallery. And we must admit that we are very glad that we did. Not only does the exhibit include a great deal of information about Freemasonry, it also offers a goodly amount of community history. And, as part of the exhibit, there is a display highlighting the he-we's contributions to the community. We are quite touched that five years after his death, he would be remembered in this way. The exhibit will run through September 19 and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 until 5 p.m. There is no admission charge, but donations will be gratefully accepted.
In closing, we are happy to report that one of our overnight concert guests announced that he believed that the old fashioned doughnuts from Schneider's Bakery are better than Krispy Kreme doughnuts. In fact, he thought it was good that he didn't live here as he imagined he would spend his days doing nothing but eating doughnuts. He was delighted when we offered to bag up some for his return trip to New York City. And we were pleased that he enjoyed what we think is a long standing Cooperstown tradition.
We remain,
In these Otsego hills,
Where nature smiles,
The Ellsworths
The Ellsworths may be reached by mail at 105 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326, by telephone at 607-547-8124 or by e-mail at cellsworth1@stny.rr.com. They look forward to hearing from you.