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November 2012

My most favorite part of the Farmer’s Museum was the garden and the animals. Both came toward the end of the village. The herb garden was usually buzzing with bees and fluttering butterflies. A small stone path led through the fragrant plants, and there was something deeply comforting in the beauty and the order found in the layout of that small parcel of land.

On this visit, the gardens had mostly wilted and browned in the frosty nights, but there were a few blooms that remained on the warm-for-October day.

Back when I was kid, it was the animals that most excited me, and I could spend hours just watching them go about their business, chasing the chickens, or waiting for the turkeys to meander my way. I don’t know why they held such a fascination – maybe because I grew up with a single German shepherd, far from any farm, and this was the most exotic thing in the world to me.

Whatever the case, part of that allure still held, and I stood watching the livestock for a few minutes longer than anything else at the museum that day.

After a brief moment of reflection in the church, we got back on the road to Sharon Springs, Lake Otsego on our right. It was almost time for our four-course dinner at the American Hotel…

Most kids don’t like being forced to tour museums and historical sites (and as for the latter I may be in agreement – the only thing I wanted to see in St. Augustine was the beach, but we had to endure hours of historical forts and canons first), but for the most part I enjoyed the museums we went to as children – especially natural history or scientific stuff. When there were re-enactments of historical jobs, with costumes and everything, I was even more interested. (I still remember Sturbridge Village and Colonial Williamsburg quite fondly.) So the Historic Village at the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown was a highlight of my childhood vacation days. From the heat of the blacksmith to the rhythmic workings of the wood-cutter, I would watch as they carried out the way life was in the 1800’s.

Far more than most children, I lived largely in my head as a kid. It gave me a quiet self-possession, even as it read as ‘arrogant’ and ‘aloof’. I didn’t care – the worlds I could create, aided and abetted by the fantasy of costume and make-believe, were somehow more meaningful and authentic than the mundane reality of school and sports.

It was always more fun to pretend to be someone else, to walk in someone else’s shoes, or to follow a foreign path. The idea of stepping into the past – and leaving the present – was an unconscious desire for escape from the person I really was.

When I was a kid, one of the favorite places my Mom took me and my brother to was the Farmer’s Museum at Cooperstown, NY. Though we had to suffer through a top at the Baseball Hall of Fame (easily the most abysmally boring experience of my life), the reward was the fun of the Farmer’s Museum, especially the live animals and the recreated life of the 1800’s. Since we were a scant forty-minute ride from Cooperstown, Andy and I decided to take the scenic drive along Lake Otsego and return to a place that held such fond childhood memories.

The above work is entitled ‘Autumn at the Crossroads’ by Janet Munro. Painted as recently as 1992, it was a gift for the 50th anniversary of the Farmer’s Museum, and is a seasonably-appropriate piece for this time of the year.

Andy, framed.

In my experience it’s usually the case that one can’t return to childhood places without a bit of disappointment, a bit of displaced confusion over what once held us so rapt. This was the rare instance where the memories I held actually matched the experience we had. All of the wonder of the place remained intact, the thrill of seeing how life used to be lived still resonated, and at the end were the animals that always tickled my soul. (They’re coming up a bit later…)

The heart of Sharon Springs is the American Hotel. It is, often literally, the sole beacon of light rising from the bottom of Main Street. Staying there, one feels both welcomed and cared for, pampered and protected. From its cozy pub corner to the inviting chairs around the stove of the living room, it invites any and all. ‘Rest here’ it beckons, ‘Cheers!’ it cajoles, ‘Relax and enjoy’ it subtly demands.

The fruits of Fall have been pleasingly placed all around the main room, and a cozier place to spend this Halloween weekend could scarcely be conjured. I find a seat at the end of the bar and order a traditional martini, very dry with olives. A small television flickers in the background, foretelling the tracking of Hurricane Sandy, and a psychic sits beside me foretelling her own tales.

A few political ads flash across the screen, and under her breath I hear her say how much she hates Republicans. I mention my consternation at having passed a number of Romney/Ryan ads along the lawns of rural New York State. She says she doesn’t want to reveal what will happen with the election, only that the country needs to reach the bottom before it can build itself up, eventually admitting that she thinks we’ll be under Romney and Ryan. She adds ominously that she’s glad she’s past the point of menopause, otherwise she’d lose all her rights. It is not exactly reassuring, and though she qualifies herself by saying that psychics are only right 85 percent of the time (and she hopes she’s wrong), my mind is unsettled and bothered by her prediction.

Luckily we’re ensconced at a place of peace, and while some credit must be given to the impeccably mixed martini before me, much of what allows me to relax again is the atmosphere of the American Hotel. An affable swirl of friendly activity surrounds us, one in which guests are instantly assimilated into the warm light and contagious camaraderie.

This is one of those idyllic places of the world, where it feels like we’re delving deeper into a past that might have existed only in some happy imagination.