Deep sleep quiets pain but can bring on bad dreams
Tuesday, the 17th of October, is a day to remember; somewhere, here in our little space on the planet, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown — now that is an event to remember.
An old thought was that, when traveling, you should eat where the trucks are or the most cars are and supposedly the traveler would find the best meal at the best price. One OF thought this would be a good truism to go by.
Only at one stop, where there were not only the most trucks but one heck of a lot of cars, the OF figured this should be a great place to stop and eat. The OF and his family went in only to find out it was a topless place, a couple of steps beyond Hooters. Live and learn.
Another OF asked if they didn’t have signs advertising that they were that type of restaurant. The reply was, not that the OF noticed; if there were any, the OF missed them.
Just like the truck drivers miss the warning signs for the Glenville Bridge that keeps getting whacked. Yeah or the bridge in Schoharie County with the really sharp S turn in and out of the bridge on Junction Road in Esperance — with all kinds of signs, an OF added.
Applejack
Along with apple season comes cider time. The OFs talked earlier about drunken animals; now is the time to talk about people getting snookered on the same stuff, hard cider.
One OF talked about making what he called “applejack.” The OF said that he pressed apples from an old, uncared-for orchard on the farm; he pressed the apples, good and bad, worms and all.
The OF claimed the squeezing from these apples made pretty good cider. Some of the squeezing was placed in a barrel and out of this barrel was a copper tube with a spigot on the end.
The barrel was filled with apple juice, kept outdoors, and allowed to freeze. Later in the winter, when it was frozen basically solid, the liquid in the center of the barrel was drained off.
This liquid looked just like water, the OF said, but drinking too much of it could cause blindness. The OF called it great stuff. Old Man of the Mountain Brew — it is recommended not to try this at home. One reason is the OF may have been making the whole thing up and the white lightening that came out was pure poison.
Night challenges
The OMOTM noted that, in many cases, the Bible hits the nail right on the head. Verses in the Bible that mention “your old men will dream, dreams” is right on.
The OFs were talking about how, the older they get, the more they sleep, really sleep, although a couple of OFs mentioned they find it harder to get to sleep as they have gotten older.
However, the conversation centered now on what is meant by older; real OFs can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. The column has had the topic of dreams in it before but this one is on sleeping and dreams and how, when age is up there, a nap turns into a sleep of an hour plus.
Along with a high number in age comes a certain amount of 24/7 hurts; when in a deep sleep, these are not noticed. Sometimes, as one OF put it, the hurt will wake him up out of a deep sleep.
But most of the time, when sleeping, the pain is gone so getting up in the morning is put off until it is absolutely necessary to use the john, and that may be nine o’clock in the morning.
One OF said that sometimes it is the dream that wakes him up, and he can’t get back to sleep because he does not want to fall back into the same dream. There was a lot of agreement on this one.
Bath or shower
This scribe warned that he was not going to be able to make this past Tuesday’s breakfast either and was going to use old notes but thought other notes were better and so used them.
At one point, the OFs discussed whether it was better to bathe or shower. Some said: Why bother, take some soap and jump in the creek.
That is OK in the summertime but, in winter, not so much.
Most of the OFs shower, and didn’t think it mattered much either way but getting in and out of the tub at the age of some OFs was an effort.
One OF said he thinks the shower is best because, as the dirt and grime washes off, it goes down the drain; in the tub, as the grime is scrubbed off, the OF is sitting there in the germ-filled water, soaking in it.
Another OF claimed the shower stall is easier to clean than the ring around the tub. Yet one said there is nothing more relaxing than soaking in the tub, and adding more hot water as the water cools down.
Another said he thought toilet time was a waste of time; this OF wanted to get in, get clean, get out, get dressed, and be on his way — this OF said he had things to do.
Another OF claimed he had some Chinese friends tell him that Americans spend too much time in the shower and washing off all the bacteria on the body, much of which is there to protect the body; that is why you (meaning the OF) spend so much at the pharmacy, trying to replace it and get all these allergies and colds. Who knows, they may be right.
All the well-scrubbed Old Men of the Mountain either by shower or bath made it to the Chuck Wagon in Princetown and all those perfumed OFs were: Bill Lichliter, George Washburn, Miner Stevens, Glenn Patterson, Mark Traver, Joe Rack, Jake Herzog, Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Dick Dexter, Herb Bahrmann, Paul Bahrmann, Ted Feurer, Jake Lederman, Rev Jay Francis, Elwood Vanderbilt, Bob Donnelly, Dave Hodgetts, John Dab, Rick LaGrange, Ed Goff, Paul Guiton, Doug Marshall, Frank Dees, Pete Whitbeck, Doug Lonnstrom, and not me.