Little Town, It's a Quiet Village: Cooperstown!

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

fun times in the village!

Cooperstown in state of emergency for nearly 24 hours
Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006

By Elizabeth Cooper
Observer-Dispatch

COOPERSTOWN - The village has been operating under a state of emergency for nearly 24 hours in response to heavy rain that has caused flooding throughout the region.

Village Mayor Carol Waller said she declared a state of emergency at 1:47 p.m. Tuesday, after she learned four 10,000-gallon oil tanks belonging to a local business were tipping over because the soil underneath had eroded away.

"When I saw that, that's when I decided to call a state of emergency," she said Wednesday morning as she sat with the members of the Cooperstown Volunteer Fire Department.

Many of those firefighters had worked straight through the night to pump out basements.

"We've being trying to get some to go home and get an hour or two of rest and then come back," said Fire Chief Jim Tallman.

Tallman said his department has been taking calls since 11:45 a.m. Tuesday to pumping out flooded basements around his 100-square-mile district. Tallman also said firefighters had to make two rescues as a result of mudslides.

Otsego town Supervisor Tom Breiten said there was widespread flooding in the Fly Creek Valley, where many roads were washed out.

"Fly Creek looks like Fly Lake," he said.

Waller said several tourists had been sent to the Clark Sport Center because they could not get to the places they were staying.

Monday, June 26, 2006

umbrellas

Well, I did indeed walk to work in the rain with my favorite umbrella and a bag full of whatnot. Just my luck the rain picked up while I was on my way. I tried to stay perfectly within my three feet of shoulder on the highway and hoped everyone had their lights on so I wouldn't get run over. I arrived at the oepra house very soggy and shivery. It's been a LONG day, and tomorrow will be long as well. I took a lot of photos today, but I haven't uploaded any yet, so here are a few of me being silly and cute!

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start!



AH! I think the gods of the office are punishing me. I've been gone since 9 this morning, I have about ten minutes to eat dinner and then walk back to the opera house. Oh, AND it's raining. Haha.

AWESOME!

More updates with pictures later.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Here are some pictures from yesterday. George and I went by Mary Ann's house, who is the woman he is staying with. Her house is really quaint and she has an adorable cat named Max and an energetic puppy named Pocket.









George took me out to eat. It was really lovely. Then we went back to rehearsal for The Barber of Seville. Here's a sneak peak at the scenery.



Sorry to be so brief, but I'm still fairly upset and thus somewhat terse.

Have a good day.

Adam is Awesome

So here I am excessively upset because it's my day off and I am stuck in my room. One of the other interns and I made plans a few days ago to go to the market this morning and then to this big book fair in Cooperstown. I looked the bookfair up online long before I got here and it's probably one of the things I was most excited about doing. John, the intern, just got home from partying and doesn't feel like going anywhere. I'm sort of crushed. I feel immature for being upset about something seemingly so small, but I can't help it. I'm just in super "carpe diem" mode and it seems like I'm the only one.

On a happier note, I walked to work (for lack of anything better to do) and got my mail. I found a package from Adam containing dvds, cds, a kitty notebook, a narnia poster and the best, a dinosaur keychain with my name on it, as seen here:




It really cheered me up to get this thoughtful package, especially today! Thank you Adam. You are a wonderful friend and I love you infinity squared. :)

I'll post more pictures from yesterday later. Right now I'm trying to see if I can get ahold of anyone to bring me anywhere. :(
You have no idea how tempted I am to walk 9 miles into town. *sigh*

Thursday, June 22, 2006

requested by mommy

My new glasses:




Not the best photos, but hey, I just took a nap so go easy!

Here's another one from the day they came along with a picture of one of my new necklaces I bought at a little shop here.




And here's what the lights look like in my room. I stranded them up a few days ago. I love them!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

it's all good

Although it's a little warm, it's a beautiful day here. I spent the morning wandering around Glimmerglass taking some photos.




Then, Marissa, Julia, and I set off for Cherry Valley. We wanted to go to a healthfood store called "It's All Good" to pick up a few things. After much meandering (well, not TOO much, the town itself is too small to get lost in) we found it. The store is actually in an old house that looks like this:



You enter the store through the door on the side of the house

It was small, and a bit pricey, but really charming. We found what we needed and I suppose that's what matters. The store is next to "The Limestone Mansion" which is a converted inn. It's a gorgeous building.


We parked across from a used book store called "Clough's Bookshop." On the way back I talked the girls into letting me pop in, although we didn't stay long. As soon as I get a car I am driving straigth back. It was AMAZING. A real, geniune, haphazard, musty, bare-bulbed book store. Dad, you would have loved it! I snapped some pictures of the first story and second.









I just made dinner and watched American History X, which, surprsingly, I had never seen. The movie was incredibly powerful, not to mention heartbreaking. I think I'm just going to spend the rest of the evening here. Maybe I'll watch another movie or read. Love to everyone. Pictures of my new glasses soon.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

pirates

I'm off to Utica to go shopping, but here are a few snap shots from today.


A) Something called a "production seminar" went on today concerning Pirates. Basically, it's a panel of important people who discuss the production. Very cool.






B) I sat through the rehearsal for Pirates and it rained for about 20 minutes. I loved it. There's nothing like the sound of rain hitting an opera house.





Sorry to be so brief, but I 've got to RUN. More pictures later and I'll tell you all about the most incredible calzon ever! Kisses.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

egyptians and grandma moses

What a tremendously hot Sunday. The weather here is starting to feel like Tulsa humidity. Ugh. Sean, Courtney, Adrian and I went to the Fenimore Art museum this afternoon. The museum is a converted quasi mansion built in the 1930s. The museum itself is fairly small and although I enjoyed it, the art there is not quite my tastes. A lot of americana and Native American art. The featured exhibit consists of paintings by Grandma Moses. I enjoyed it, although I am VERY excited about the Egyptian exhibit at the Met that Lara told me about! I really hope I can make it to Manhattan before it ends. Here's the link, it only goes to July 9th!!!! :http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7B92C8F718-137B-4AE6-9FAA-C8DA6CCE72CC%7D

Scarabs and pharaohs and heiroglyhpics just make my heart race; it's true, I am a not-so-closet mummy lover. Ever since that fateful day when I saw the Reading Rainbow episode and Levar Burton opened my eyes to the joys and wonders of mummification. *sigh*


Here's the back and front of the museum and some shots of the back terrace. I walked down to the river and dipped my feet in. The water, though not immaculate, felt delicious on my toes. I encountered an odd wood shed. Not really sure of its purpose, but I snapped a photo nonetheless.





The sun was really bright, so um, I apologize for the goofy look on my face!




After we left the museum we got dinner at a great pizza place here called Sal's. Then we went to the Stagecoach Coffee shop. Adrian and I split a scoop of maple walnut ice cream and I had an iced carmel macchiato. Stagecoach is one of two coffee shops in Cooperstown and once I get a car I'll probably be there all the time. There's a lovely patio outside where we sat and at night a strand of bare bulb lights illuminates the tables. It's fairly close to the Bistro, where we had drinks the other night. There's a place called "Cooley's" that's supposed to be a pub like bar. I haven't been yet though. I hope their beer selection is better than the Bistro's. I haven't made it out to the brewery here yet, called Ommegang. I hear it's really wonderful. There's also a winery nearby I'd like to visit. I bought a bottle of Yellowtail Reisling tonight but I think I'm going to save it. I'd like to put my sorority-girl party planning skills to the test and host a little get together over here at Spruce Haven. Most of the interns live at Malton Place about 1 mile down the road, so I don't see them that often. I'm thinking something basic and classy, like a black and white party. Any ideas? I'll keep you posted :)



Not exactly sure why there's dirt on my forehead . . .




Before coming home I went grocery shopping -- THANK GOODNESS! My supply of edible treats was seriously dwindling. I bought some organic applesauce, some granola bars, english muffins, all the essentials. Well, I think I'm going to bed early tonight since tomorrow I'm anticipating a long day.

Love to everyone! I'm sending out a round of postcards tomorrow. If I have your address you are getting one! If I don't have your address, then POST IT.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Today is my one week anniversary in NY!

I am lying in bed drinking some Honeybush Carmel tea (delicious!) and listening to some beautiful classical music I burned from one of my housemates. Today was not all that exciting. I stayed in most of the day except for a few hours when Sarah, the really nice Marketing intern, took me car-shopping. Basically, this entailed us driving up and down Highway 80 looking for vehicles parked on the road. We found a few 'maybes" so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Yesterday was much more exciting, so I'll just talk about that. I left work with a few other interns and went to the Fenimore Art Museum where there was a masterclass. It was three hour workshop during which the Young American Artists (opera singers who aren't yet professional, sort of like apprentinces, I guess) sang and Amy Burton critique their performances. It was a bit long, but really great and informative. Later that evening I met up with a few more interns and we set off for Howe's Caverns (http://www.howecaverns.com/), about 35 minutes away from Cooperstown. We didn't go into the caverns, but ate dinner at the restaurant there. We had sweet potato bisque (which was amazing! I have the recipe so if anyone wants it just ask), salad, salmon, and maple walnut cheesecake. The salmon was, unfortunately, not cooked all the way. We told the manager this and he offered to bring us a different batch of salmon, but we were already full (and saving room for dessert) so we politely decline. I decided to go out on a limb and ask for some more of the yummy potato cakes they served with the salmon. This seemed a little inappropriate because dinner was a fixed price for all the courses, but since our main course wasn't prepared correctly, I didn't feel bad asking. I only asked for "a few more," but five minutes later our waitress brought out a PLATTER of potato cakes along with another PLATTER (literally) of salmon, even though we specically asked not to be served any more fish. Oh well. It was a nice gesture I suppose, though I would have rather received a price deduction. Let me just say though, the maple walnut cheesecake made everything worthwhile. It was absolutely ambrosial!

Here's us at the table

This is the wonderful view from the window. The restaurant is sitting atop the caverns, I guess. I'd really like to go back and tour the caverns.


I couldn't resist snapping a photo of the bathrooms, which were abnormaly pink and reminded me of something, though I can't place what. Something, uh . . . special.





Once we were back in Cooperstown we went to The Bistro, a restaurant/bar for Brian's 22nd birthday. Brian is another intern who works in the Administration building with me. It was a bit on the dull side, but relaxing. The resturant is pretty swanky; I liked the decor. We mainly just sat at the bar and talked. Sadly, I was not carded. I like how I got carded last week at the OLIVE GARDEN when I was eating dinner with my GRANDPARENTS yet I do not get carded ordering vodka cocktails at a bar. Whatever!

Here are a few photos

Alison is on the left, me in the middle, and Julia on the right.


This is the restaurant interior


Well, loves, I'm off to bed! Tomorrow I am either going to visit the two museums in Cooperstown, The Fenimore and The Farmer's Museum, or I'm going to Albany for a shopping excursion. I hope I get to go shopping :) It just depends on who's going where. Monday the real work begins because that is when the photographer gets here. I'm a bit nervous about not having any time off, but we will have to see. I'm excited to meet the photographer and do something worthwhile, as I spend Friday in the office stuffing envelopes. Yuk.

Take care, everyone!