What to do with old junk? Make it into art

It was another rainy Tuesday on Sept. 25 when the Old Men of the Mountain traveled to the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg.

In the direction that many of the OMOTM travel, they are bucking early morning traffic of those hustling off to work in the cities. The early morning brings its share of headlights greeting the OFs as they head in the other direction.

Add the flip-flop of the windshield wipers as they swish back and forth, wiping the water off the windshield when it is raining, and the OFs have a dark, early morning motoring challenge. The OFs aren’t complaining; the OFs thank all these cars on the road headed to work — saying, “Thank you, keep those Social Security checks rolling; we did this (work) for many years.”

The OMOTM by name have, over the years, accrued many items and most were necessary purchases. The problem is some, if not most, of these “things” are no longer necessary or have worn out, and where are these items now located? Well, surprise! The OFs have still got them.

At Tuesday’s breakfast, the OFs were talking about lawn mowers that do not work and have been replaced by newer ones, and TVs in the garage that are so obsolete that they are not even good for parts. The same goes for computers, hot-water heaters, and washers and dryers.

For one OF, it is shoes and boots. The mantra that was being displayed at this breakfast was, “I don’t want it!”

“So take it to the dump,” came a somewhat unison reply.

One OF said that he has hung on to some of this junk for so long it will now take a truck to haul it to the dump. Another OF thought it would be slick to gather all the old appliances, old chimney caps, old wood stoves, just plain old this and that, and pile it in the front yard.

Then have a few people look at it and arrange the pile into what in the OF’s opinion would be interesting, give it a name, make a sign, stick it in front of the pile and in the name of art call it (free form sculpture) and leave it there.

One OF picked up on this and said, “I have some stuff that I could bring and add to this pile.”

“Hey,” said the OFs, “we all could contribute to this, take pictures of it, and put it on the ’net.”

Some of the OFs thought this would be cool.

One OF said, “The pile could be built around an old telephone pole I have, and the OFs that have big bucket loaders could lift up an old decrepit riding lawn mower with a mannequin driver and cap the whole business.”

This met with considerable approval. The drawback was: What OF would let this so-called work of art be constructed in his front yard? The OMOTM have the collection, and the wherewithal, but ran short when it came to location.

So it still came down to “Take it to the dump.”

How colorful will the leaves be?

At the scribe’s end of the table, the conversations were quite redundant — e.g., hunting, boats, lawn mowers, old cars, old-car parts, model Ts, hearing aids, the weather, and then seasonal questions came up like: “What are we going to do this fall?” and “What do you think this fall will be like?”

One OF thought it should be exceptional because of how much the foliage grew this summer with the almost tropical weather we had in our area. If all these trees turn color without a heavy rain storm or high winds (when they are at high peak in changing), it is going to be a great fall to have the camera ready.

Others thought this fall would be like the summer — warm, wet, and dull.

This is one topic where we should make notes to see who is right or wrong; however, we all have to wait and see how it turns out. One OF says there is an area near his place that is about a quarter-mile stretch of road lined with maples and a couple of oaks.

He has taken pictures of this vicinity from the same spot for about five or six years. The trees grow some each year, but it is hardly noticeable.

Still, this year it is different — the growth is noticeable. Previously, the color of the trees, no matter what, was about the same. This year the OF thinks it will be no different — the color will be about the same.

Fooling the calendar

Another OF mentioned that many people with boats go by the calendar and take their boats out of the water when the calendar says to do so. This OF said that this year it is still good boating and fishing weather and his boat is still in the water. Even in past years, he has done the same by keeping the boat in the water longer then the calendar suggests.

Another OF said that is like buttoning up the house for winter, and putting up the outdoor furniture. Some do it way too soon and miss the nice warm days of fall, and enjoying a fire in the outdoor fireplace.

The bugs and mosquitoes are gone, the evening is darker earlier, the fire seems to crackle better, and this OF said it just seems nicer.

Others don’t like fall at all. They know what is coming and don’t like plowing and shoveling snow. Each to his own. That is what makes life so interesting.

Those Old Men of the Mountain filling up the back room and them some at the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg, on a foggy, rainy Tuesday were: Roger Chapman, George Washburn, Robie Osterman, Bill Lichliter, Pete Whitbeck, Roger Shafer, Bill Bartholomew, Art Williams, David Williams, Wally Guest, Harold Guest, John Rossmann, Richard Frank, Chuck Aelesio, Ted Feurer, Jake Lederman, Gerry Irwin, Herb Bahrmann, Mace Porter, Mike Willsey, Warren Willsey, Mark Traver, Joe Rack, Glenn Patterson, Otis Lawyer, Elwood Vanderbilt, Bob Donnelly, Allen DeFazzo,  Harold Grippen, and me.