Of course, writing the column longhand is not the real problem for us. The real problem is that all of our notes for this week's column are on the non-functioning computer.

This means that we have had to rely on our memory to come up with those items we planned to touch on this week. And we fear our memory may well be worse than our handwriting.

Fortunately, to get us started, we have some thoughts scribbled on a placemat from a recent lunch at the senior meals program held each Tuesday and Thursday at the Christ Church Parish House. One Tuesday while there, we hit pay dirt and had several people offer items we found to be of interest.

We learned from a former Cooperstonian, who was transplanted to Hartwick some twenty years ago, that people from Hartwick are called Hartwickians, with the emphasis being placed on the "twick" part of the word. It is almost, our source told us, as if the word were written Har-twickian. We are grateful for the information and extend a big thank you to our source.

Another meal program attendee, who wished to remain anonymous no doubt to protect his innocence, pointed out that drinking bathroom water was perfectly all right as long as one only drank the cold water and not the hot water. We must admit that we found this to be somewhat odd until it was explained to us that in the house in which this person grew up, the cold water came from the well while the hot water came from the cistern. Therefore, the cold water was all right to drink, while the hot water was not. We pointed out that we thought this must not just be a bathroom issue, but also a kitchen issue as well, we were told that was correct. The decision to drink cold water, but not hot water, was based on the temperature of the water and not on the location of the water. We thought the entire conversation made us rather grateful for the work of the Cooperstown water department, although we still don't want to drink the bathroom water.

While trolling through our thoughts, we seem to think we learned, and were going to pass on, the information that the production of "Cabaret" that we saw in Saugatuck, whilst visiting our family cottage on Lake Michigan, was that of the Broadway revival, not the original Broadway production. It no doubt explains why we did not recognize the production as the one we did many years ago in summer stock and more recently at Hartwick College in Oneonta. We have to say, as so often seems to be the case, we thought the original was better.

Not long ago, when we were at work (Yes, for those who did not know, we do have a real job, of sorts, which pays real money, of sorts.) the telephone in our office rang so we naturally answered it. We were told that Chris was on line one. As we pushed the appropriate button on the telephone which would connect us to line one, we wondered who on earth Chris might be. We must admit that we felt rather foolish when we said, "Hello, this is Catherine Ellsworth" only to discover that "Chris" was none other than the wee-we, our son, who was calling form Ohio. We never think of him as "Chris" although we know that on both of his answering machines, the one at home and the one at work, he identifies himself as "Chris." And although we have had a number of nicknames for him over the years, "Chris" has never been one of them. Now, if we had been told that the kid was on the line, we would have known exactly who was calling.

Last week in our somewhat limited overview of upcoming events, we failed to make note of one which is coming up this weekend, namely the "Fall for the Arts" which will be held on the grounds of the Glimmerglass Opera and is sponsored by the Otsego County Arts Alliance. We actually plan to participate in this event, which runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and will be a celebration of art and cultural events in our area, including music, dance and theatrical performances. Our participation in this event is, fortunately, limited to manning the Cooperstown Concert Series booth from 2 until 4 p.m. We will be distributing information about the Concert Series' upcoming 37th season, which includes seven great concerts right here in Cooperstown. Season tickets for the concert series will also be available at the booth. If you are unable to attend "Fall for the Arts" and did not receive a brochure for this Concert Series season, we would suggest you check for information on their website, www.cooperstownconcertseries.org.

In closing, we must say that we have quite enjoyed the relative calm of the village since Labor Day. It is not that we particularly mind the influx of summer visitors. It is just that we so enjoy the peace when they depart.

We remain,

In these Otsego hills,

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.