And even though we tend to think that both hindsight and foresight have their own drawbacks, it doesn't stop us from spending time thinking on the year about to end as well as the year about to begin.

We are of the opinion that 2004 should quietly pass into oblivion. It has not proven to be one of our most favorite years given what we consider to be a great amount of upheaval not only in the world in general but in our family in particular.

But we do believe we have survived and will be happy to put the events of 2004 behind us. And we suspect that there are others who would dearly love some of the happenings of 2004 to come to an end. One of our neighbors lamented that she did not consider 2004 to be a very good year.

The Yankees lost. Kerry lost. And the look of the neighborhood was dramatically changed. No doubt she is hoping for change in a number of areas in the year ahead.

We too have visions of change for the year ahead. We think Crayola might consider some color changes in their crayons. We are particularly desirous of getting rid of red and blue but there are other colors that could go as well. And we certainly never again intend to spend so much time in any state which might be a possible swing state during a national election. We are still trying to figure out exactly why, when we were in Michigan in October, all the schools in Allegan County were dismissed an hour early for Vice-President Cheney's visit to Berrien County, Kalamazoo County and Kent County. And we certainly shan't be sorry to see the 2004 weather draw to a close. Having said that, of course, we do know that there is always the potential that the weather in 2005 could be worse.

Of course, we do realize that these things are all events over which we have little control. It would perhaps behoove us to spend our time worrying about those aspects of our life which we can control.

To this end, we have decided that writing "In These Otsego Hills" will no longer be one of our many undertakings. After much thought, we have made the difficult decision to no longer write for The Cooperstown Crier. Although the column has appeared in this paper since 1996, first as "Where Nature Smiles" and then as "In These Otsego Hills, it is now time for us to move on. Hopefully doing so will allow us to take on other projects which we trust will prove to be not only equally worthy but also equally interesting.

In closing, we would like to thank the editors and staff at The Cooperstown Crier for all of their assistance over the years. We have enjoyed our time with the Crier and wish them continued success in the years ahead. We would also like to thank all of our faithful readers of "In These Otsego Hills." Without all of you, there would have never been a reason for meeting that deadline week after week, year after year. We thank you for all of your support and hope that our paths will cross again in the future.

We remain,

For the last time,

In these Otsego hills,

The Ellsworths