New Year’s parties and resolutions both change as we age

DUANESBURG — On this last day of the year, with the weather still holding on to temperatures in the mid to low 40s, the OMOTM arrived at Gibby’s Diner on time as usual. I noticed as I walked in to take my regular seat, so did everyone else.

Pretty much all the OMOTM not only sit at the same table at the diner we are at, but we sit in the same chair! I bet you could blindfold us and just tell us which diner we were at, and that we were standing in the doorway, and we could walk to our chair at our table without hitting anyone or any other table!

We OMOTM are a very special and talented bunch of nice guys, except when someone sits in our chair at our table! Talk about instant grumpiness!

Party memories

New Year’s Eve. Brings back memories for all of us. Mostly party memories.

Parties are at the top of that list of memories regarding New Year’s Eve. Parties in high school at someone’s house when we were not old enough to drive. Then we got a little older, not a lot older, just a year or two and the world of where we gathered to have a good time and have a party changed considerably.

We had some really good times. Some good memories. Life goes on and then we have our own families and the responsibilities that go along with those families.

The parties became a little less enthusiastic, not much, but a little. The locations changed as well, maybe a live band and perhaps a little more dancing, a little less drinking.

Evolving resolutions

The idea of making New Year’s resolutions has been a constant part of the new year as much as the parties. These resolutions seldom stood the test of time.

I'm going to lose weight, I'm going to be an “A” student, sort of morphs into resolving to be a better boss, or employee, or stopping smoking (still going to lose weight), gotta save money for college for the kids, save money for retirement.

Now we are part of the OMOTM and our resolutions are very few in number. Staying healthy is right at the top of all of our lists.

The most popular resolution of losing a few pounds has given way to staying healthy, which is expressed most commonly as, “I just want to see what 2026 will bring,” or “I want to put this *!#% COVID in the rearview mirror!” (My older sister and her husband both had to deal with mild cases of COVID this Christmas, which really messed up their holidays.)

Midnight

A few of us still stay up and watch the ball come down. Then we will kiss our better half, and in honor of all those parties past, we pop the cork on a bottle of champagne and drink a toast to each other and all of our friends, past and present.

Then we put the cork back in the bottle and go to bed.

In the morning, we will make mimosas. A good way to kick off the new year.

Not one of us will resolve to lose weight, and we have all stopped smoking a long time ago, so we will look forward to next Tuesday morning and seeing our OMOTM friends at one of the five great diners we meet at for breakfast.

Ice fishing

The last couple of days of this year’s January thaw in December have arrived. The snow is all gone. The lakes are still covered with ice (about an inch thick at most) but no ice fisherman’s shanties are to be found on any of the lakes yet. Ice fishermen are many things; stupid is not one of them. 

These men are a hardy bunch of individuals. It takes a special breed of men to stand around a hole in the ice, stamping their feet, drinking hot coffee, hot chocolate, sometimes even a cold beer, waiting for a small flag (I think they are called tip-ups) to spring to life, signaling a fish is down there, waiting to be brought up. A hardy breed indeed.

There are fake ice fishermen however. If I were to indulge in this ice-fishing endeavor, that would be my classification.

I wouldn’t be hard to find. Just look for a pickup truck towing a large shanty out on the ice. The pickup would have a small quiet generator in the bed with enough capacity to provide enough power to heat and light the lights in the shanty, with enough power left over to handle the small TV and laptop.

I would have a couple of comfortable chairs and a small table for the snacks and the beverage of our choice. I may even have a small camping propane stove so I could warm up some chicken-noodle soup or brew a fresh cup of coffee.

I would not go outside to drill a hole in the ice. The shanty would be big enough so I could drill the hole inside the shanty (located under the table so no one would accidentally step in the hole) and I would have windows so I could watch the real ice fishermen out there stamping their feet, trying to stay warm.

I would be smart enough not to ask them to move further away while stamping so as to not scare the fish away from me. Like I said, ice fishermen are not stupid, not even fake ones.

New Year’s Eve found the following OMOTM enjoying breakfast at Gibby’s Diner: Harold Guest, Wally Guest, George Washburn, Wm Lichliter, Michael Kruzinski, Jamey Darrah, Frank A. Fuss, Albert Raymond, Marty Herzog, Warren Willsey, Russ Pokorny, Jim Gardner, Frank Dees, Jake Herzog, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Roger Shafer, Joe Rack, Pastor Jay Francis, Scribe Emeritus John R. Williams, Lou Schenck, Jack Norray, Dick Dexter, John Jaz, Gerry Cross, John Dab, Paul Guiton, Bob Donnelly, Elwood Vanderbilt, Dave Hodgetts, Alan Defazio, and me

The Old Men Of The Mountain wish each other and all of you who read about us in The Altamont Enterprise, Happy New Year!