OMOTMday could be a worldwide celebration of men’s friendships

The Old Men of the Mountain were considering starting a petition to change the name of the third day of the week from Tuesday to OMOTMday. The petition would change the name so OFs all over the world would have their own day and on that day, the world-wide OFs would gather with friends someplace for either breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or evening snack time.

The gathering could be just two old friends who could spend a couple of hours a week solving the problems of the world, or 40 or 50 old friends of the male gender sitting down together with no agenda, no rules, and no plans, or plans to make plans, only to do the same thing next week on OMOTMday.

This would accomplish two things, get the OFs out of the house, and give the lady of the house a couple of hours to herself.

So on Tuesday, July 11, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Duanesburg Diner, in Duanesburg on a typical day (so far in 2017) with a good dash of fog and rain. The OFs all showed up trying to brush the green mold, which is beginning to sprout on most of us, from their shoulders.    

Maybe some of you have seen this adage on T-shirts but with the OFs (in many cases) the statement is so true. The shirt reads “I am NOT sorry I arrived late. I didn’t want to come anyway!” One OF said many places he goes is because he is dragged there by some other party.

He declared, “I would rather be anywhere than at some high-brow art show trying to eat some tiny crackers with a green slimy dip that looked like it was used as a prop in Ghostbusters.”

One OF bristled a tad and said, “That art show is my kind of place, but I bring my own snacks.” This OF did add he has just as much fun in a junkyard, or at the Gas-up as well as the art show.

Some stand out

Baseball season is about half over and the All-Star game with the Home Run Derby a part of the build-up was being played. It seems that one player has considerably piqued the interest in the sport this year. That player is Aaron Judge of the Yankees.

This scribe cannot remember when the All-Star game (and in particular the Home Run Derby) was ever mentioned at an OMOTM breakfast, but this year it was.

This scribe is amazed how at times one person can interest many outside of their field so we all know who they are and what field of endeavor they were involved in: We all recognize Carl Sagan, Dr. Jonas Salk, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Marilyn Monroe, Mother Teresa, Bonnie and Clyde, Hitler, Dan Patch, and quite a few others, but those names would still be on a short list compared to all the billions of people or animals that have taken a breath of air on this terrestrial ball.

Making history real

A couple of OFs talked about participating in re-enactor groups. One OF stayed with one period in time — the Revolutionary War — and the other was a time-jumper. This second OF participated as a re-enactor in both the Revolutionary and the Civil wars.

These two OFs mentioned how American history was made real by being members of these groups and how much of the history of our country is not taught in schools. A major reason, unless someone becomes a history major, there is not time to cover it all, so just the highlights are taught. However, this way of teaching means many interesting and important parts of our nation’s history are missed.

Green thumbs

The gardening OFs discussed their gardens; this is an ongoing topic at the OMOTM Tuesday-morning conventions during the growing season. It is not so much “I can top your garden” as it is “since my garden is doing bad, what are you doing to make yours grow right?”

So far, in most of the discussions, if one OF’s garden is having a prolific year the others are, too, and vice versa. This year, the OFs say they have beautiful tomato plants but very few blossoms. No blossoms means no tomatoes.

The other is that the zucchini are about ready to pick. The garden growers are beginning to say: Enough with the rain; we need a little sunshine.

Picky about Pickers

Some of the OFs watch the TV show “American Pickers,” and some of the OFs have places that the Pickers might like to get into. However, other OFs maintain that their places, which the OFs think the Pickers would frequent, are nowhere near as bad as the places these two Pickers really do get into.

The places the OFs have are generally orderly with pieces they keep there to restore; other pieces the OFs are working on. In the TV show, many of the places they get into are no more than junkyards back in the woods.

The OFs say the places these guys pick are downright dangerous and hangouts for vermin. The OFs say that, if they spot critters around their collections, out come the traps — none of those pesky rodents, or creepy crawling stuff for them.

Those Old Men of the Mountain (and some are old enough to be collectibles for the Pickers to consider) who met at the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg were: Roger Chapman, Miner Stevens, Bill Lichliter, John Rossmann, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Chuck Aelesio, Richard Frank, Peter Whitbeck, Dave Williams, Bill Bartholomew, Mark Traver, Otis Lawyer, Glenn Patterson, Roger Shafer, Lou Schenck, Jack Norray, Mace Porter, Gerry Irwin, Herb Bahrmann, Russ Pokorny, Rev. Jay Francis, Ted Willsey, Bob Lassome, Bob Fink, Bob Benninger, Mike Willsey, Warren Willsey, Art Frament, Herb Sawotka, Joe Ketzer, Ray Kennedy, Gerry Chartier, Harold Grippen, and me.