Published: September 11, 2008 08:21 am         

In These Otsego Hills

In our column of June 5 of this year we wrote ``we do not normally, given our dislike of the kitchen, write columns dedicated to strictly food related topics. Yet, surprisingly enough, we have recently read up on two more undoubtedly useless food topics, namely the Oreo invasion of Britain and the Asparagus Capital of the World located in Schwetzingen, Germany. But take heart, we shall probably not use this information until we once again find that we have to be out of town for a family wedding.’’ Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be, we have now gone and come from our second family wedding of the year and have not used the Oreo invasion of Britain or the Asparagus Capital of the World in the column. Consequently, we fear we shall keep those two exciting topics on ice for a future column.

As to the weddings, we must admit that we found having the summer season begin and end with a family wedding to have made for a rather pleasant summer. Our nephew Bjorn and his now wife, Tara, were married at the end of August at the family cottage on Lake Michigan.

And, in spite of somewhat dubious weather, they were able to hold the ceremony on the beach as planned. It was quite a lovely affair set, as it was, against the backdrop of the lake. Chairs were provided and all the guests, ourselves included, managed the 65 steps down to and up from the beach without any great difficulty. In fact, we think we had more trouble managing the steps at the Felt Mansion, located just north of Saugatuck, Michigan, where the reception was held. There we had to do a mere 35 steps to the third floor ballroom. But for us the second set of 35 steps seemed more difficult, no doubt because we had already done the first set of 65 steps up from the beach. Nonetheless, in spite of the fact that we were tempted to refer to it as the ``Wedding of the Steps,’’ a good time was had by all and we greatly enjoyed the opportunity for the family to get together once again. While in Michigan we also celebrated our fatherÆs 90th birthday. We are not quite certain how he got to be that old, especially since we are still a mere 39 and holding. But he has. And he seemed quite pleased with his various birthday gifts, all of which had an opening theme. He received a garage door opener, which our brother and sister installed successfully thanks to our assistance in reading the directions. He is also the proud owner of several new can openers as well as a flip-top can opener and a strap wrench for removing jar lids. We, of course, took copious notes regarding all of these presents, with the exception of the garage door opener which we already have, as we suspect we shall be in need of several of these items in the not too distant future. In fact, we have already purchased the flip-top opener given some recent problems we had with a tin of corned beef.

And as is usually the case when we travel we did learn a number of new things while on our trip to Ohio and Michigan. And although they may not be the most earth shattering discoveries, we do feel they may prove instructional down the road. For example, we discovered that when flying to or from a wedding it is a good idea to check and make certain that an errant pair of underwear is not hitching a ride in the hood of oneÆs hooded shirt.

The unfortunate wedding guest who discovered after a dayÆs travel on the airlines that there was a pair of underpants in the shirtÆs hood had been able to successful hide that fact from the fellow travelers. However, we are not certain that would always be the case and thus we recommend, in addition to the security check, the hood check when flying.

We also learned that the switch from analog TV to HD/digital TV with the use of a converter may not be as easy or successful as one might hope. We discovered that the television viewing at the Lake Michigan cottage with the HD/digital converter was even more sketchy than it was with the long time regular television reception. In fact, we definitely think that taking a good book to the cottage makes more sense than ever. And, our experience with the TV at the cottage makes us very glad that we have cable TV and thus do not have to worry about the upcoming switch. We also discovered that some drivers in Michigan do not seem to understand the basic concept of a red light. On two different occasions we noted drivers ignoring the obviously red light and proceeding through the intersection as if the light were still green. One driver was successful with this maneuver. The second driver however plowed full tilt into the vehicle ahead of us which has started through the intersection when the light turned green. Fortunately for us, the wee-we, who was chauffeuring us home from the rehearsal dinner, stopped when he saw the car running the red light so that we were not involved in the resulting accident.

And the last thing we learned on our trip is that it is quite possible to enjoy oneself with a group of people even if one is the only one in the group not sporting a ``REAL WISCONSIN CHEESE CURDS..enjoy deep-fried or fresh and squeaky’’ T-shirt. We must admit that it is not everyday that one finds oneself surrounded by people decked out in such shirts. But just in case we encounter such a situation again, we are tempted to purchase such a shirt should the need arise. We checked and such shirts are indeed available on-line at www.wisconsinhistory.org where they can be found under the ``shop’’ link.

In closing, now that our summer travels are over, we find ourselves once again focusing on upcoming events here at home. To that end we are reading Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill for the next meeting of the Literary Discussion Group sponsored by the WomenÆs Club of Cooperstown. The book discussion will be held on Thursday, September 25 at 2:30 p.m. in the Village of Cooperstown Library. The meeting is open to the public.

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.