Reaching through the cobwebs of memory to recall presidents and ministers
Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Middleburgh Diner in Middleburgh. Rarely does this scribe and his riders arrive at the eating establishments first — there are always a few of the OFs already at the tables. This scribe does not know what time these OFs wake up but it has to be early.
Sometimes the OFs are at the restaurant’s door, waiting for them to open up. The owners are so familiar with the OFs, they should give these early OGs a key to the place so they can open up and get things ready.
Last week, the talk at the table, for the most part, had a general theme. This week, it was all over the place: Truth and trust (the OFs have covered this before but this was a new take); the election; China; the economy; the fires in Tennessee, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Oakland, California; cost of heating (again); ministers; what things are like in different parts of the country, along with same things going on all over the world, the universe, and this was not all of the subjects covered at Tuesday’s morning’s breakfast so there was not much depth in any one topic.
Fires rage and enrage
The OFs talked about the fires that seem to raging all over. Some of the OFs have been to one or more of these localities where the fires were.
Cambridge a classy address in Massachusetts where the OF who was there said he could almost visualize where these buildings were that burned but wasn’t quite sure.
A couple of the OFs have been to the smoky mountains of Tennessee especially Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg — they remembered these places quite vividly. And a few have been to Oakland, California, but had no recollection of the area where this warehouse was.
One OF mentioned how dry it has been in the Northeast and he knows how dry it has been in Tennessee because some friends of his who live there were complaining about the dryness and the concern for wells and ponds, just like here.
Politics conscribed
In the discussion on politics, as far as the OGs are concerned, this was not really politics because in the bylaws of the OMOTM politics and religion are a no-no. However, the OFs do manage to skirt around both of these topics.
On politics Tuesday morning, the OFs talked about how many United States presidents the OFs have lived through; at our end of the table, we came up with 14. The election when most of the OFs first voted was when Truman was elected.
There is no truth to the rumor that our oldest OF (who will remain nameless, but the initials are MW) voted for Millard Fillmore. The point is, the OFs have lived through them all: good or bad, Republican or Democrat. The OFs even lived through the confusing time of trying to find out what the definition of is, is.
The OFs also lived through the time when we had drills in school and were told to duck under our desks in case of a nuclear attack.
Religion evolves
Following the same vein, the OFs discussed ministers they have known or encountered over the years as they grew up. The ministers fell into the same type of categories as the presidents only with different titles to the classifications, i.e. really good, good, not so good, and awful.
The OFs were able to go back further than presidents since some were in school in 1920 to 1930, when they were 6- or 7-years-old and in Sunday school. Some of the OFs had trouble going back that far, trying to reach through the cobwebs of their memory to pull out information.
Religion, like life, has changed and evolved. The OFs wonder if some of the old preachers they had could come back and see how religion is today would they even recognize it.
“Hey,” one OF said, “that goes for a lot of things. I used to think one plus one was two; today I am not too sure of that.”
Not economists
The OFs are not real economists but have just enough knowledge that the OFs could be dangerous to themselves. They are now watching this unexpected growth in the stock market, which has been setting all kinds of records after the election.
The OFs are wondering how long this type of growth can be sustained and if the bubble will burst, or will there be a leveling-out somewhere along the line and the new numbers become the norm. The OFs think there are a lot of crystal balls in use right now on the economy, and, as stated, the OF are not economists.
Elusive deer
It is that time of year again and it not Thanksgiving or Christmas but time to thin out the herd of deer. The OFs were asking each other about seeing any deer their way. Most have seen them in some areas and some say they are all over the place.
According to the OFs, all they have to do is grab the bow or get the gun and the deer are gone. The OFs think deer have the same sense as crows, and they have spies out watching the OFs who are hunters. Once the OF who hunts leaves his home in camouflage and with his weapon of choice, the warning signs go out just like the participants in the Anti-rent Wars with their tin horns and calico.
Those OFs who missed all the deer in the road on their way to the Middleburgh Diner in Middleburgh, and were wondering where they disappear to when the OFs get home were: Roger Shafer, Dave Williams, Miner Stevens, John Rossmann, George Washburn, Robie Osterman, Harold Guest, Roger Chapman, Don Wood, Lou Schenck, Gerry Irwin, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, Wayne Gaul, Sonny Mercer, Ray Kennedy, Bob Benninger, Bob Fink, Warren Willsey, Mike Willsey, Gerry Chartier, and the Willsey’s guest Winnie, Elwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, and me.