But, we could, of course, be wrong about that.

Nonetheless, we note that our annual summertime baseball camp visitors are back in force and so we shall once again undertake our usual summer avoidance activities so that we will stay out of the visitors way and that they will, hopefully, stay out of our way.

Fortunately, we are able to limit our Main Street forays to a once a week trip to the post office and the bank, both of which can be made early on in the day, thus missing most of the Main Street traffic as well as its perpetual lack of parking. And we have any number of ways to get around town which help eliminate the obvious pitfalls of traffic and congestion.

Of course, we have to think, what with the new loading zones so prominently in place about the village that all issues with delivery trucks will have bit the dust.

Having said that, we must say that we do not quite understand the new loading zones.

The two new zones on Pioneer street, in the block between Main and Lake Streets, seem to be in effect only from 8 until 11 a.m. The rest of the time regular parking, limited to two hours between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., is permitted.

On Main Street, however, the new loading zone, which appears to take up an enormous amount of space, is in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We must say that we didn’t realize the need for such continuous delivery to our fair village.

In a conversation about the loading zones, we were asked if we thought one could park in the loading zone if one was actually loading one’s vehicle.

For example, we suppose, if one were to park in the loading zone to pick up a pizza and, if one got a ticket, one could make the argument that after all, one was not actually parking but rather one was loading one’s pizza into one’s vehicle in what can only be described as a well marked loading zone.

It is, we think, an interesting argument. After all, the zone does not mention the need to be a commercial vehicle in order to use the loading zone.

Nor does it designate whether the loading needs to be off-loading, as in the case of a delivery, or if on-loading, as in the case of putting a pizza in a vehicle, is also permitted. It is, we think, a quandary. No doubt, the actual law is somewhat more specific which of course is of little help to the hapless person who would like to partake of the advantages offered by the loading zone and has only the signs to go by. Hopefully, more information will be forthcoming.

We were also somewhat amused by the person who told us he thought the whole loading zone issue reminded him of a quote from Shakespeare’s Mid-Summer Night’s Dream in which Puck says "What fools these mortals be." And while we could well see his point, we tended to think it more appropriate to quote from The Man of LaMancha in which the Padre says "The cure, may it not be worse than the disease."

Also, we cannot help but think of the late Harold Hollis, long time mayor of the village, who always insisted that village did not have a parking problem. Parking in the village was simply an annoyance. We always thought Harold stuck to this assertion because if the parking was really a problem, he would have to work on finding a solution. But as long as the parking was just annoying, there was nothing to solve. We are beginning to think that Harold may well have had a point.

On yet another village related topic, a number of people have asked us why there seems to have been so many fireworks displays in and around the village this year. As one person pointed out, it is quite enough to be bombarded with Mother Nature’s displays of thunder and lightning without adding additional man made wonders.

It has also been pointed out to us that any number of the village’s four legged friends react most negatively to the additional late evening noise. And we must admit, since we have no idea when a fireworks display might be in the works, we are somewhat disconcerted by the unexpected noise, wondering each time we hear it just exactly what it might be. We find ourselves heading outdoors, often clad in our night clothes, to make certain that what we are hearing is indeed fireworks and not some other more deadly undertaking.

In some ways, we are less disturbed by the Fourth of July fireworks, which we understand will be on June 30 with a rain date of July 7, and the Thursday night fireworks at the Dreams Park because we know when those fireworks are scheduled. But the timing of the other ones we have had thus far this year is unknown. However, we suspect someone must know they are scheduled to happen.

Therefore, in closing, we wonder if it might not be possible to give the community a heads up as to just when such displays might be expected. We doubt that would help our four legged friends who are distressed by fireworks, but we do think it might be helpful if residents of the area knew when to expect such fireworks. After all, even though they may be held for a private event, they are very much held in a public space.

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.