Weather can make or break an event — or a harvest

It is something to develop any system and have it last since around 50 B.C., and the Old Men of the Mountain, along with many others, are using this system right now because on Tuesday, Aug. 10, the OMOTM met at Mrs. K’s Restaurant in Middleburgh. (This system is the calendar.)

It was a nice day, uneventful, no floods or natural disasters to contend with as the OFs made it to Mrs. K’s.

It is strange how the weather can have such an effect on the best-laid plans. The OMOTM in the last two years have planned one gathering a year and both times the weather has been very nice.

The OMOTM were discussing how weather can cause a planned event to fail or succeed.

The OFs were talking about the Middleburgh days, and now that the Sunshine Fair is going on in Cobleskill, and the Altamont Fair is coming up, and the upcoming Schoharie Village garage sale, one OF said, “Of these towns, or villages, whoever is planning such an event has to consider how much the weather will affect them.”

Many of the OFs have been on the planning end of such events, or are part of an event planned by others, like fire departments, churches, and schools. Then, on the day of the event, it pours! How discouraging.

As one OF commented, “The next day the sun shines bright.”

Then another OF said, “You guys are all talking about fun things to do. What about listening to the weather report and it sounds so good and some farmer cuts down 100 acres of hay, and it rains all night, and until noon the next day! Happy farming!”

Sandman fails

Another topic that came up and was talked about on Tuesday was somewhat unusual because this topic has never been discussed. The scribe can’t remember any discussion on this subject at our breakfasts. The topic: sleeping.

One OF, almost immediately upon sitting down, leaned back in his chair with a long stretch and deep yawn and then announced he did not sleep well last night. The OFs to his right and left said the same thing; they did not sleep well and were tired.

A few others in that area of the table said the same thing. It was a hard night to sleep, and they, too, were tired.

A couple of OFs also said they were tired when they went to bed so they should have fallen right to sleep. What was in the air, Monday night and early Tuesday morning? Did the sandman fail to get up?

It is not that all the OMOTM don’t have air-conditioners, and have to put up with fans, but was Monday night that bad? It is a good thing most, if not all, of the OFs are retired. Suppose they were all truck drivers and the regular drivers met this crowd on the road.

Sticky wicket

Ah, sooner or later the discussion would get around to Governor Andrew Cuomo and his resignation. Most of the OGs thought his handling of COVID-19 was pretty good except for that nursing home situation.

Within this group, we are all eligible for that trip. The statement, “Be good to your kids because they get to choose your nursing home” is worth mentioning. The OFs supposed, “Well, maybe they do.”

Anyway, most of the OFs thought we should let the governor finish out his term, but there should always be three or four other people in the room regardless of what Governor Cuomo says.

Another OF said, “This circumstance is a trait of overseas behavior. Look at the French, the Italians (especially the Italians) and those in the Mideast — they are huggers and kissers, right down to their goats.”

What a sticky wicket we have now. COVID is kicking in again. What a mess. This scribe hoped the chatter didn’t get too far into politics and it didn’t; however, it did get into a little of the social side of it and then faded out.

Pondering prices

Then the OFs started talking about the price of everything. The OFs thought some of it was price-gouging because the suppliers can get away with it, and other price hikes were just supply and demand.

One OF asked, “Where did all the workers go?”

Another OF replied, “Why work when the government pays you pretty well to stay home?”

A couple of OFs were car shopping; talk about aggressive! One OF said they wanted to take his truck right out from under him, making all kinds of offers.

Another OF said they did take his vehicle in their clutches, and brought around a used one that looked and drove like brand new. The OF said he couldn’t pass that one up.

One OF said he gets many phone calls to trade his vehicle in or outright sell the thing. This OF is beginning to be on a first-name basis with the dealers.

It is changing so fast that some of the OFs said they don’t believe it is all due to the pandemic. The OFs are confused. How can a piece of plywood go from $10 to $13 a sheet just a few months ago to $80 or $90 for that same sheet of plywood today?

The grumbling Old Men of the Mountain grumbled about a lot of things at Mrs. K’s Restaurant in Middleburgh from hugging, to masks, to prices skyrocketing, and those OMOTM who will keep their hands in their pockets to stay out of trouble, were: Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Rick LaGrange, Glenn Patterson, Mark Traver, Ken Parks, Joe Rack, Otis Lawyer, Pete Whitbeck, Bill Lichliter, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Ed Goff, Russ Pokorny, Gerry Chartier, Bob Donnelly, Dave Hodgetts, Jake Herzog, Lou Schenck, Jack Norray, Herb Bahrmann, and me.