On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown.
There were two things that were on the special side of last Tuesday morning’s breakfast. One is that they (whoever they are) say that the rodent in Punxsutawney saw his shadow. The eyes of that animal have to be pretty sharp to be able to see his shadow through all the snow and sleet that was in that area on Tuesday.
One OF asked: How can he not see his shadow with all those TV lights glaring from the stations covering the event.
The second thing was (as one OF put it): Only the hardy OFs showed up for Tuesday’s breakfast. That may or may not be true.
The OFs who did make it found the roads in good shape, but it was cold in the valleys. One OF reported they went through 12 degrees below zero, and another said that, when he left his home on the top of the hill, it was plus two degrees, and at the bottom of the hill it was minus five degrees.
Other than that, the road crews are to be commended on the conditions of the roads in the Hilltowns and surrounding environs. All the cars the OFs encountered (with the rare occasion of some jerk probably late for work) were moving about 40 miles an hour and they kept at safe distances from other vehicles.
At least where the OFs were headed — Princetown — it was not that bad, just a normal Northeast winter morning, zero degrees, and snow.
Bridge builders
The hiking OMOTM were discussing bridge-building again. The new bridge they were talking about covers quite a span. The beams for the bridge are 40 feet so the OFs were discussing how to tackle a job of this size.
This bridge is to be located at Minekill, which was developed years ago as part of the Gilboa hydroelectric project. Many of the OFs have visited the Minekill State Park, and the Blenheim-Gilboa visitors’ center at Lansing Manor.
Like Thacher Park, this park also has many interesting events going on and in the summer it is worth the trip. The winter may be a little hairy unless the OFs don’t mind driving winter roads through the mountains.
Check it out on the net, and see some of the areas that the hikers of the OFs help maintain.
Solar seekers
The OFs talked about solar panels, and one of the OFs explained how he has covered the south section of his roof with solar panels. This OF clarified that he rents the panels for a certain amount of money a month, and the installation cost him nothing.
He has not received his first statement yet to see how he is doing; that is how new the system is. If this scribe can decipher his notes, the OF rents these solar units at a certain price for a given period of time.
I believe the OF said 20 years. (The OF hopes he makes 20 years. The secret to long life is to set goals far away into the future then try to make it.) And he gets to use all the electricity for free.
What he saves in his power bill should either pay for all his utilities or come close to it. This OF made a good pitch for those with south-facing roofs.
Flood fixers
The OFs also talked about Schoharie, including those counties and towns that were affected by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, and how these places are still feeling the punches that storm wrought. One OF mentioned this is similar to the tremendous ice storm that hit Plattsburgh and the small towns in that locality many years ago; the damage was still visible years later.
Even now some of the OFs who travel that way say a few repairs are still not made. This was brought about with a discussion on the Parrott House, which precipitated from a discussion on how many people were are in Schoharie with the murder trial going on at the courthouse that was brought there as a change of venue from Oneonta. (Boy, how conversations tie seemingly unrelated events together.)
The Parrott House was built in 1870 and was known as the Eagle Hotel. A fire that same year that destroyed several buildings, started in the hay barn there, and the proprietor was William Parrott Jr.
The OFs can’t quite remember that far back (1870) but they do remember when the Parrott House was more or less the place to see and be seen, with the bowling alley in the basement where, as youngsters, some of the OFs set pins. Square dances, Christmas parties and all sorts of special events were held at the Parrott House.
Sometimes, over the years, the food was great and other times it was not so hot. That all depended on the owners and who was in the kitchen.
Now the Parrott House just sits there looking so sad, waiting for a buyer. Hence the discussion of the flood.
Weather watchers
The winter weather came up again, and many of the OFs remembered how they didn’t mind the snow and the cold a few years back. The winter activities were fun and invigorating.
Ice-skating was one activity particularly enjoyed and the village of Schoharie came up with a new, lighted ice skating rink. The OFs remembered shoveling snow off the pond, and making places to skate. They recall having bonfires and hot chocolate and skating.
Ah, the remembrances of tobogganing — the OFs don’t know if tobogganing is done much anymore. Skiing with long wooden skis held on by the OFs’ farmer boots, with felt liners and wool socks and toasty feet, and just springs for bindings.
We were towed up to the top of the hill with a rope tow wrapped around a tractor tire. One OF thought we had more fun that way than kids do today with their fancy expensive outfits, being more concerned about how they look than having fun and learning to ski.
The OFs who made to the Chuck Wagon in Princetown, by not being scared by the weather guys, and appreciating the hard work by the road crews, whether they worked for the town, county, or state, were: Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Robie Osterman, Mace Porter, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Otis Lawyer, John Rossmann, Harold Guest, Bob Benninger, Bob Fink, Harold Grippen, Gil Zabel, Elwood Vanderbilt, and me.
Location:
The Old Men of the Mountain went to bed on Monday night, Jan. 26, along with everybody else scared out of their wits, because the OFs thought they were going to wake up to the storm of the century. That is not too hard to do seeing as how we are only beginning the 15th year of the century.
However, what the OFs woke up to was nothing, notta, zilch. Route 88 was dry, Route 7 was wet in spots, and the secondary roads had a tad of snow on them in certain locations. However, as the reader will note at the end of this little report, that news did keep some of the OFs at home; the names of the hardy ones who made it to the Duanesburgh Diner in Duanesburgh are listed here.
Needless to say, the first topic of the morning was the weather, or the non-weather, at least for the localities of the OFs. Some OFs reported hearing the snowplows going by early in the morning with their plows down spewing sparks. The OFs are sure there was a reason for this, and noted that, for one thing, plows are better than an alarm clock to wake the OFs up. One OF mentioned, when the weather people are right, he is glad the plows are out there because if he can get out of his driveway he is sure the roads will be passable.
One OF said he went to Price Chopper on Monday and the place was a zoo. Especially down the aisle for soda and potato chips. Another OF said that it probably had nothing to do with the weather; people were just making sure they had their goodies ahead of time combining the “storm of the century” on its way, and the Super Bowl coming up
“Well, it was packed,” the OF said. “And, when stores are packed like that, I can’t think,” the OF concluded. “It is lucky I came home with anything close to what was needed, and I did forget one of the things I was sent to the store for.”
“You OG, you would have done that anyway, even if it was a balmy, sunny day and only two people were in the store,” another OF retorted. “You are just like the rest of us — you need a list!”
The OFs continued chatting about the weather that didn’t happen. One OF mentioned that weather people don’t make unreliable forecasts on purpose.
What if the next time a storm is really coming and people have a tendency to think back to this one and not take it seriously — go about their business and there are lives lost. What is the weather guy going to do then? Say, “I told you so?”
Ice-fishing
This discussion was weather-related, especially to us, because so far this has been a cold winter in our area.
The OFs also talked about ice fishing. The way the weather has been, the OFs have noticed a few ice-fishing contests are being advertised.
One thing the OFs noted was that the ice should be thick enough to support a tank. Some of the OFs used to ice fish, and some may still haul out the tip-ups, bundle up, and get out there on the ice.
With all the ice huts that are available now, they are like man-caves out on the ice — comfy and well-stocked. The movie Grumpy Old Men depicted this sport very well.
The OFs talked about the size of some of the fish that were hauled out of the lakes while ice fishing and this led to a brief discussion on Thompsons Lake and Warner Lake. One OF mentioned that fish should have a good place to winter in Thompsons Lake because it is so deep.
This OF said that Thompsons Lake was a kettle, and about 600 to 800 feet deep. In checking this out, it was found that this OF added a 0. Thompsons Lake is about 60 to 80 feet deep. That’s deep enough for fish to winter anyhow.
Seeing yellow
Some of the OFs were snowplow operators on the Thruway. One OF said that one day the forecast was for a large storm so everyone was called in to get ready.
The storm did not show up — at least initially. The supervisor (to keep everyone busy because the workers were there and many on overtime pay) assumed there wasn’t going to be a severe storm.
He had the operators paint the snowplows. The operators, like good little soldiers, started painting the plows. They were just about finished when the storm hit like a ton of bricks.
Out they went to do battle with the elements; however, many of the plow blades had just been painted. This wet paint came off and mixed with the snow and, when all those anxious drivers who were in such a big hurry passed the plows, their windshields became covered with yellow-painted snow. The OF said many of the vehicles had to have the paint taken off with lacquer thinner.
Weather is what it is
As reported before, most of the OFs are not news junkies, except when the weather people are giving the weather. Once they catch the weather report, most of the OFs then go on about their business.
The weatherman on Channel 6 apparently got it right and said he did not expect that much snow in our area. Again it is “apparently” — the other guys were in panic mode.
“What did we do?” was a rhetorical question asked by the OFs when all we had were crystal sets.
As stated before, weather is what it is — deal with it! Help those who need help, and you should try to be like the ant and not the cricket. The OFs have spoken.
The hardy OFs that made it to the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg, on well-maintained roads as good as summertime were: Roger Chapman, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Harold Guest, John Rossmann, Frank Pauli, Lou Schenck, Jack Norray, Mace Porter, Mike Willsey, Warren Willsey, and me.
Location:
Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Old Men of the Mountain charged off to the Country Café on Main Street in Schoharie, where the breakfasts are man-sized. One OF who generally orders a la carte enough for two or three OFs ordered just one item from the special board and needed a box to take some of it home; this OF does not have a dog.
As we get older, the OFs (as we get older — wasted words — the OFs are old) have a fear of falling. The OFs consider that fear is one of the best reasons for using Tim Conway steps in the wintertime in many places.
This was brought about by the icy driveways from the one day that the temperature climbed to above freezing and then went right back down. All the driveways and most of the walkways of the OFs were like that — ice under a coating of light snow.
The OFs definitely do not want their feet to skid out from underneath them as they crash to the frozen ground. Two problems are now in place: Either something is going to become broken, or the OGs will be down and won’t be able to get up.
Being down and not able to get up is a problem at any time, and any place. Some OFs carry a cane, not that they need it to walk with, but often times, when the OFs bend down to pick something up, they need something to push on to get back up.
Pondering pileups
The OFs also talked about all these multi-car pileups all over the country — and this is a big country. The OFs wondered why there have been so many in recent times. There have been icy roads before and nothing like the magnitude of cars that are involved in these pileups.
The OFs had some reasons why this is happening. The best reason is “too close, too fast” and that coupled with distracted driving makes the matter even worse. From the videos, it looks like most of these vehicles never even slowed down.
As one OF’s nephew’s wife said in exasperation (as she was being pressured into getting things ready for Thanksgiving): “What’s the freaking rush?”
That is exactly what the OFs were wondering — what is the freaking rush? Where is everybody going in such a hurry?
One OF blamed it on the new cars. The OFs have mentioned this before, and it seems like the OFs are prophets in a sense.
The older cars required concentration to drive. The OFs had to listen to the engine and know when it began to lug and the vehicle had to shift down. Conversely, as the engine began to rev up and run free, it was time to shift up.
The OFs also had to know how to take turns using speed, slowing down when entering a turn, and adding power halfway through the turn, because there were not many vehicles with power steering.
Today, cars practically drive themselves, the cabins are quiet, and most ride smooth, like old Chryslers or Buicks. Today, after driving five miles, the driver has a tendency to lose concentration, and, to substitute for all this, the drivers today go to their tunes, or phones, or whatever to keep from being so bored driving they might fall asleep.
Looking at those videos of the pileups, the OFs think that many drivers of cars and trucks that kept piling into the mess ahead of them were in that state of mind.
Discussing driving
The OFs continued discussing driving.
One of the OFs returned from visiting family in Atlanta, Georgia so many of the OFs who have been to the Atlanta area began to talk about traffic in and around that city.
At times, on the major roads around any big city, strangers who are not sure of where they are going may be in one of the center lanes and see the sign for their exit. Now it becomes a big whoop if the driver can get over to exit at his or her exit.
Traffic may carry the uninitiated driver down two exits before he or she can exit. (Canada has alleviated this problem by installing “collector lanes” that allow one to move over and select his or her exit from the comfort of this lane).
One OF said he thinks it is the time of day because this OF was on one of these roads in Atlanta and in one of the center lanes when he spotted his exit. The OF put on his blinker, and a tractor-trailer in the next lane over slowed up and let the OF in.
To get over into the next lane, a tow truck slowed up and let him in, and to get into the final lane (so the OF could get off at his exit, which was approaching rather quickly) a city bus slowed and let him in the far right-hand lane and the OF made his exit. Just like anything else, at times it is not all bad, but it is scary. Yet it is still too close, too fast.
Hearing about hiking
We have mentioned before that some of the OFs are hikers and we’ve told of some of the work they do to maintain trails and hiking destinations. Tuesday morning, the hikers were talking about their hiking.
It should be noted that this scribe is not a hiker — this scribe is more of a lover, a thinker, and a painter of where the hikers hike.
Apparently, like all enthusiasts of whatever hobbies they have, weather does not deter them and these OFs were talking about hiking, working on trails, and contending with whiteouts. More of the OFs should bundle up and get outside even for a little bit.
These OFs maintain that just 20 minutes or so of good clean air will help keep you fit. Plus the added exercise of donning 15 pounds of clothes just to get out would help in the fitness department too.
Those OFs who put on just enough clothes to make it to the Country Café in Schoharie, and use calories to keep warm, were: Roger Shafer, Chuck Aleseio, John Rossmann, Harold Guest, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Roger Chapman, Frank Pauli, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Jack Norray, Mace Porter, Lou Schenck, Bob Benninger, Bob Fink, Elwood Vanderbilt, Gil Zabel, Harold Grippen, Warren Willsey, Mike Willsey, and me.
The Old Men of the Mountain met at Mrs. Ks Restaurant in Middleburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 13, and that is one 13th of the year out of the way with that is not on a Friday. Now we have February, March, and November to look forward to. Not that the OFs are superstitious or anything.
Many of the OFs are looking for January to be over. Some of the OFs think that, once February is here, winter is on the wane. Although some say it can be a nasty month, and March can be the month of snow and mud.
Some March days feel like spring has sprung, and these days are then followed by a wintery blast, so that has many of the OFs shivering more so than in January. So much for the weekly weather report. It is what it is — deal with it.
Troopers evolve
Many of the OFs have relatives who are or have been New York State Troopers. At one time, the OMOTM had a retired trooper who joined in on the breakfast with the rest of us.
With the advent of all the recent notoriety about police and the dangers they are in, the OFs began talking about troopers then and now. As none of us at the table is or was a trooper, the OFs could only relate what occurred with their friends and relatives, and there are some big changes.
Early on, the troopers were treated like soldiers in the army; they actually had barracks. They stayed right there and were away from home. The uniforms, though basically the same color were quite different.
The OFs told humorous stories about the situations their friends and relatives got into as troopers. Some of the OFs told of how they have had to use the troopers, or how the troopers have had to come and see them.
The rural areas like the Hilltowns when the OFs were young rarely saw a trooper; there were not that many and those who were assigned to these areas had a lot of geography to cover. Also, the OFs don’t know when it changed, or even if it has, in fact, changed, but there seemed to be fewer tickets issued back then. It seemed the troopers were part of the community, and really were peacekeepers.
It seemed, as one OF neatly put it, the troopers knew who to cuff and who were just good old boys settling things the mountain way and not bad people or criminals.
The gray uniform still carries the respect it did then and probably will continue to garner the respect that has built up since 1917. One OF added: As long as they keep politics out of it, it will.
Only the good die young
Almost as a continuation of last week, the OFs brought up the health issue again, only this time it was why some people who apparently maintain a healthy lifestyle wind up with some horrendous diseases.
The OFs picked out people who have brain cancer, and pancreatic cancer. People who are active and thin keel over with a heart attack. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for much of it as far as the OFs can understand.
Then there are those, one OF said, who break all the rules and are still chewing on their cigars at 100 years old. One OF thought there should be a percentage chart in doctors’ offices that show what the percentage of not getting a nasty disease is (when the people who play by the rules) as compared to those who do not play by the rules chances of getting some serious malady that is going to do them in. The OFs used examples of smoking, drinking, being sedentary, and constantly at the food trough.
The OFs harkened to when they were younger and there were very few rules on what to eat, wear, drink, and go.
Then again one OF said, “We had little choice of what to eat, wear, and drink, and also a horse didn’t get you very far.”
“We aren’t that old, you old goat,” was the reply, “but most of us did eat from the garden, and butchered our own meat, plucked our own chickens.”
Spotlight on disease
Last week’s disease topic was basically polio. This Tuesday, the issue was another nasty ailment — Parkinson’s disease.
There are medications for this problem but what was brought out by the OFs was, when someone in the spotlight contacts this or that disease and begins to champion it, what a difference that makes. The OFs brought up how much Michael J. Fox has done for Parkinson’s awareness, treatment, and research.
The OFs thought the people in the trenches and doing the grunt work seem to make little headway, then someone in the limelight gets involved and bingo! There is that positive spike.
A short comment that this scribe did not pick up at the time (some people think on their feet — right or wrong — this scribe is a mull-it-over type and thinks about it, sometimes for days) and this is the comment, “If we die, do we have things in order so our kids don’t have one giant puzzle to solve?”
That is a good thought but what’s with the “if?” Shouldn’t that be “when?” The way it was said may be normal, but it sounds like we have a choice. This scribe thinks there is no choice; it is not “if” but “when.”
Those OFs attending the breakfast at Mrs. Ks in Middleburgh and all bringing their rabbit foots (feet?), which leaves a lot of three-legged rabbits running around, were: Chuck Aleseio, Otis Lawyer, Glenn Patterson, Mark Traver, Roger Shaver, Roger Chapman, Harold Guest, John Rossmann, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Elwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, and me.
Tuesday, Jan. 6, the first breakfast of the Old Men of the Mountain of the New Year, was at the Middleburgh Diner in Middleburgh. It is now year-wise 2015 (and temperature-wise five to seven degrees) and what does the year hold in store for the OMOTM other than be cold?
By the tone of the chatter Tuesday morning, not much — even the temperature is pretty normal for January.
The OFs have seen so many old years go, and new years come, that, when compared, one to another, nothing much happens. But, when the years are strung together, a lot does change — a whole lot.
This scribe does not want to start listing a multitude of changes here in transportation, communication, medicine, or morality; the readers can do that themselves just by comparing any topic from 1930 to 2015 and noting the changes. From diapers with pins to Pampers, one of the best subjects for changing the scribe can think of.
One sign of progress during that period of time is the small matter of immunization in the medical field. Now the OFs get a shot to ward off this or that.
The OFs were talking about having gotten their flu shot. The media is advising us that the shot we had is not going to handle the type of flu that is out there, but it will lessen the severity of it. Again, every little bit helps.
Polio in our country and throughout much of the world is about obliterated because of a vaccine. The OFs are familiar with this disease because of knowing people who have contracted it.
Tuberculosis is another disease that can be conquered, pneumonia another. Get a shot and the chances the OFs will come down with these problems are slim. The OFs could go on and on in just this one segment of progress in the 80-plus years they have crawled (then got up and walked) on this sphere.
Decorating minimalists
As the OFs become older, they find they do less and less decorating for the holidays. Holidays here meaning not only Christmas, but Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, or any other holiday the OFs celebrated in the past.
This year, most of the OFs have their decorations down, because not many were put up. When is the appropriate time to put the decorations away until next year?
As far as the OFs go, there isn’t any. Put them up whenever, and take them down whenever, or never take the outside decorations down.
“Why?” the OFs ask. “It just has to be done next year anyway.”
Over the years, the OFs have accumulated boxes and boxes of ornaments and these boxes are stashed in the attic, barn, or cellars of their homes. Many of the OFs add to their collections just because of good marketing, or because the decorations just look pretty.
Now, instead of one box, many have quite a few boxes and some these boxes now are never opened and never used. One OF said Box Number One, which hasn’t been opened in 20 to 25 years, must have some super collectible ornaments in it by now.
Decorating to one OF is a lot of fun, and the whole family gets into it. This OF has a manger scene he built and painted himself and he still drags it out each Christmas.
OFs’ ingenuity shines
The OFs were wondering why it is that the smaller the tractor, the more the parts cost to fix it when it either breaks or wears out. Some OFs have a small tractor, not a lawn mower-type tractor but a do-it-all small tractor.
It is not only one OF that thinks his tractor is a Cat D7, but most of the OFs fall into this category and they try to pull a two-ton log with a half-ton tractor. That is why things break and the manufacturer is smart enough to realize this is going to happen, so, to make a good profit, it puts a hefty price tag on parts. Or the service shop tacks a good price on the parts that are prone to breakage to increase its margin to pay for parts it has to carry that are probably never going to move off the shelf.
This is where the OFs shine. Over the years, they have developed a little trait called ingenuity.
This becomes obvious when an OF says such-and-such broke and another OF says he had the same problem and fixed it with duct tape and baling wire, and tells how he did it.
If you think this is just a joke, just watch the NASCAR races sometime and see how much duct tape is used after a car has had an altercation with the wall at 190 miles per hour. Sometimes cars finish with two to three rolls of duct tape holding them together. Duct tape is the OFs’ friend. This scribe thinks some of the OFs are held together with duct tape.
Wrong turn
Referring to last week, the OFs who took the wrong turn more than once leaving the Hilltown Café in Rensselaerville were followed (unbeknownst to them) by other OFs who left the restaurant but knew where they were going.
This past Tuesday morning, The OFs who knew questioned the other OFs and asked if they got home by noon.
The OFs who knew where they were and saw the other OFs turn right when they should have turned left or gone straight said, “I wonder where those OFs are going; they are going to get lost.”
Yup, they were right. The right-turning carload of OFs did take quite a circuitous route and wound up about 300 yards from the Hilltown Café after driving for nearly half an hour.
The OFs who made it to the Middleburgh Diner in Middleburgh, and who did not even worry about the vehicle not starting (that seems to be a thing of the past) were: George Washburn, Glenn Patterson, Harold Guest, Roger Shafer, Otis Lawyer, Chuck Aleseio, Mark Traver, Robie Osterman, Roger Chapman, Lou Schenck, Mace Porter, Don Wood, Bill Rice, Henry Whipple, Bill Krause, Elwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, and me.
Put a nick in the post. Tuesday, Dec. 30, the sky was actually blue and sun was in the eyes of most of the Old Men of the Mountain on their way to the Hilltown Café in Rensselaerville. Nearly all of them were catching the sun as it came up, and for “A” people that is the best part of the day.
This scribe found out later that some of the OFs again got lost, not actually lost, but just twisted around on the way home from the Hilltown Café. Really, the restaurant is easy to find, and it’s just as easy to leave, when people stick to the main roads.
However, when many strangers and even some so-called locals try a road less traveled in the Hilltowns of the Helderbergs, it sometimes becomes time to send out the St. Bernards with the jugs around their necks.
The OFs started talking about some of the OFs who are having tough physical problems and the upbeat attitude they have to whatever their problem is.
The OFs are OFs because it seems that those in the group do not have a “woe is me” attitude. The report on the OFs who are in these situations is that they are positive.
One particular OF who is having a tough time became paralyzed and is in therapy — really intensive therapy. This OF cannot walk “yet.” He is making progress but it is slow; however, he has told the OFs who visit him he is going to “walk” out of this place. By golly, the OFs are sure he will.
This type of attitude applies to the others. The OGs have said this before and will say it again: You have to be tough to get old, and it is the personal approach the OFs have to this getting-old bit that helps them get old with attitude.
Smart birds
Many of the OFs have outdoor-type personalities; they are hikers, kayakers, hunters, fishermen — the type that pull on the boots, pull down the earflaps, and head out.
Tuesday morning, they were talking about fishing spots along the Schoharie Creek and elsewhere. These places range from Burtonsville to beyond Middleburgh. There are others but this group of OFs was talking specifically about the areas on the Schoharie Creek because of the eagles that nest there.
This scribe, who spends a lot of time outdoors (but isn’t one of these outdoorsy type of OFs) surmises that the eagles are as smart as the OFs; these birds know where the fish are.
Rest Seekers legend
Traveling back in time again was brought about by current events and how things have changed. The geography covered was basically Warners Lake.
The OFs discussed the absence of some of the eating establishments on the Hill and how those that are left have taken over. The OFs did take in the old Rest Seekers Inn and what a place that was.
They spoke about the Lake and how Zwick’s was on one end and O’Hanlon’s on the other. Both places had boat launches and places to swim in the lake. It was different then, and the OFs were younger, of course, and might be remembering the times and fun from a different angle.
One OF remembers bringing friends from Long Island to Rest Seekers. At first, they were hesitant to enter, because, instead of eating in the bar like the OF usually did, they went in through the diner door.
To those not familiar with the Rest Seekers design, this entrance was like going into someone’s basement. It was lit with one 60-watt bare bulb screwed into a pigtail, and wired to a cord hanging from the ceiling.
Inside, the place would be full, and the collection of people would be everyone from farmers still with their boots on, to people in fur coats, suits, and ties. The Long Island people were still uncomfortable because, when they sat down at the tables, the tables were at such an angle it took two cups of coffee to get one.
Usually friends from the Hill would stop by and genuinely ask who they were and say things like, “I hope you are hungry,” or, “Order this or that.” The discomfiture finally left and the Long Island people loosened up and were amazed at the quantity, and quality, of the food.
The real kick in the pants came when one of the Long Island people thought he would have a slice of watermelon with ice cream for dessert, so that was ordered. What was served was half of a large watermelon, and at least a quart of ice cream. The Long Island person just stared and then broke out laughing when he found out it was just for him because that is what he ordered. Ah!
The Rest Seekers is gone but not forgotten.
Foxenkill? Well, that is another story, and it wasn’t on the Hill anyway.
No doomsday
The OFs at this breakfast wished all a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year as they left, as the next breakfast will be in 2015.
It seems to most of the OFs that we just left the millennium breakfast wondering what we were going to do when all the banks failed, and the computers went down, and the stock market crashed because we were going into the 21st Century.
Where did all that time go? The OFs are still waiting for the electronic disaster. There may be tough times somewhere down the line, but doomsday, the OFs maintain, is just a scare tactic to sell products.
Those OFs who made it to the Hilltown Café in Rensselaerville and who are ready for 2015 were: Karl Remmers, Bob Snyder, Robie Osterman, Harold Guest, George Washburn, Roger Chapman, Lou Schenck, Jack Norray, Mace Porter, Miner Stevens, Glenn Patterson, Mark Traver, Chuck Aleseio, Elwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, Gerry Chartier, Mike Willsey, Warren Willsey, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, and me.
The Old Men of the Mountain met at Mrs. Ks Restaurant in Middleburgh on Tuesday, Dec. 23, with Christmas just around the corner. This has become an annual event.
Loretta (the proprietor of Mrs. Ks) was a classmate of some of the OFs, so there is no telling this lady any trumped-up stories. Loretta was there and she knows if any of the OFs are blowing smoke.
Not that the OFs do this but, on the rare occasion when they do, Loretta will give them the “look” like, “What kind of far-fetched story are you trying to peddle now!” That puts the brakes on the OFs from stretching a tale too far.
With the spread that Loretta had put out for the OFs it wasn’t necessary to order breakfast, but the OFs did, and then some had the nerve to ask for doggy bags.
There is another side to this that the OFs mention every now and then. How many of us OGs hobble into her establishment and there she is. She has been there since maybe 5 in the morning, ready to wait on us OFs. The OFs wish she would dish up some of her energy on top of the bacon and eggs, or pancakes.
Towns with spirit
The OFs talked about the spirit of certain towns, and how there seems to be a spirit in Middleburgh that is a step above the others. The decorations for Christmas, the candy-cane covers for the parking meters so parking is free during the holidays, the artsy shops, and the plantings around town during the summers are inviting touches — this all makes Middleburgh just seem different.
One OF pointed out that Middleburgh does have the creek running right at the west end of town, and all those beautiful large homes going north along the creek on Route 30, which accounts for a lot of this good feeling.
The OFs are sure the other towns try, but do not have the structure or the landscape to work with. Also, as one OF put it, it is what a town wants and if the town leaders have the finances to work with what the people would like to see.
Some want it quiet and not all gussied up. One OF who used to have a business in a small local town said it is necessary to get people out of their vehicles and to walk the streets and then attract them into your shop.
This OF said that, if there is just a group of destination stores, none of these businesses will make it — his opinion.
Then there is the flood. This unfortunate disaster still raises its ugly head maintained one OF. It isn’t only the flooded towns, said one OG, it is (some) towns in general. Just ask the OFs. There is a lot on knowledge in the group — about 1,800 years of it.
“God is in heaven but the devil roams the Earth”
There was a brief discussion on Kenneth White, and the OFs extend their sympathy for everyone involved. Some of the OFs wondered if the situation was the result of being on medication, or the lack of it. The warnings on some medicines heard in ads on TV and radio are enough to scare the living daylights out of anyone.
“We can conjecture all we want but none of us were in that trailer at that time,” said one OF.
A second OF said, “If God is so benevolent and loving, why do things like this happen? Look at all the people’s lives that are screwed up; what is the purpose of it?”
“God is in heaven,” one OG answered, “but the devil roams the earth.”
The OFs were getting a little deep here.
Plucking chickens
The OFs discussed eating and plucking chickens, and the various ways to do both. Some OFs maintain that it is not necessary to dip the bird in hot water to get the feathers off. Some of the OFs said that using a pick and hitting the right spot of the brain the feathers just fall off.
Others said running the chicken through a “defeathering” machine was another way. The machine is just a series of whirling rubber blades that takes the feathers off, explained the OF.
The OFs surmised that there must be some way of removing the feathers other than dunking the bird in hot water because the OFs are pretty sure that Purdue, or Tyson, do not have guys or gals taking chickens and dunking them in hot water tubs then plucking them.
“My goodness, what a smelly job that would be,” said one OF because he couldn’t stand the smell when plucking a chicken. “That smell is worse than cleaning the gutters.”
One OF said, “Think of all the chickens that must be raised on a daily basis just to feed the people that eat them all over this planet. What a number that would be.”
The OFs who came out of the hills to attended the holiday breakfast at Mrs. Ks Restaurant in Middleburgh and enjoy the hors d’oeuvres were: Miner Stevens, Otis Lawyer, George Washburn, Robie Osterman, John Rossmann, Harold Guest, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Chuck Aleseio, Roger Chapman, Steve Kelly, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Don Wood, Bill Krause, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, Mike Willsey, Gerry Chartier, Elwood Vanderbilt, Gill Zabel, Harold Grippen, and me.
Location:
— Photo by John R. williams
White Christmas: The Hilltowns are blanketed with snow while the towns beneath the Helderberg escarpment haven’t retained the white stuff.
Many of the Old Men of the Mountain left the hills of snow on Tuesday, Dec. 16, and made it to the Home Front Café in Altamont. What a difference a few miles and 1,500 feet make in the type weather that the OFs traverse. Not one of the weather people even mentioned Knox, Berne, (maybe Berne once or twice) South Berne, or East Berne and the last two really got nailed with the amount of snow that was dumped on these localities.
Getting to the Home Front, which is at the foot of Altamont hill in Altamont (duh), the OFs went from 20 to 24 inches of snow to practically nothing in a distance of two miles. The other point is that this snow has hung around, and for days now the trees are still laden with snow — a winter wonderland (yeah right).
The OFs assumed the cameras were clicking especially on Saturday when there were about five hours of sun. These same weather people were showing sun and warmer temps, and the OFs are wondering where did that happen, maybe Hawaii.
The OFs haven’t seen much sun lately, and, without the sun, just like old snapping turtles, the OFs are growing moss on their backs.
Short days
There was a brief discussion on the shortest day between sunrise and sunset
This scribe had to check this one out and found it goes minute by minute and is based from Boston for use in the Farmers’ Almanac and it started on Dec. 17 to 26 the to give 9 hours and 2 minutes of daylight for those days; however, sunrise and sunset times vary a tad.
Anyway, we are in the shortest period of daylight hours for 2014. Whoopee.
Experts on doctors
There also was some talk on the age of your doctor. The OFs are now of an age where they can officially be declared experts on types of doctors.
Some of the information comes from self experience, and some for firsthand experience of friends and relatives. Like all experts who expound on this or that, the one item the OFs agree on is: The only thing the expert is an expert on is saying that he or she is an expert.
Some of the OFs think going to a doctor that has considerable gray in his hair — if it is a she doctor, that is hard to tell because they, like many ladies, die their hair — indicates the doctor has seen many cases and probably has seen before whatever the OF is there with.
Whereas a young doctor has less experience and that wart on your nose may stump him, but the older may have had one himself. But the other OFs maintained that the younger doctor may be more up on the new techniques, procedures, and medications.
One OF said he was a little biased: Give me experience over youth any day.
There was a basic school of thought that was on karma. Some OFs said they didn’t care if the doctor wasn’t old enough to shave, or had hair growing out of his ears like me; as long as the doctor and patient got along and could communicate, that was all that the OFs cared about.
Then there was that OG, again, who wanted to start a collection of the distaff side who commented that, as long as the doctor had a pretty receptionist and good-looking nurses, the doctor was good enough for him even if he was a quack. This OF said at least the doctor had good judgment.
Chat on charity
This is the season that many organizations introduce their campaigns for charitable giving. Most seem needy and worthwhile and the OFs struggle at times because the ads and programs make them want to give to them all.
That is a trick of good marketing, or a good advertising agency. These businesses do well in inducing the OFs at times to purchase things the OFs don’t want, or need, and will probably never use. These people are good at what they do, especially going to college for four or six years to learn how do to it.
Most of the OFs do what they can for the charities they are familiar with — some with animals, some for the heart, some for the Salvation Army, some for kidney, some for the Rescue Mission, and others like the Nature Conservancy, volunteer fire companies, civic organizations that affect the local community.
Not only do the OFs do this with money, but also time. Even though many well-intentioned charitable organizations tug at the OFs’ purse strings, the OFs say: Pick one and stick with it. They also add that dropping something in the Salvation Army bucket doesn’t hurt, and every little bit helps.
The OFs say: Take a lesson from the cable company — jack the bill up a couple bucks at a time and it is not really noticed, but do that with two million people and it is four million dollars.
One OF say he contributes thousands of dollars a year to quite a group of not-for-profit organizations. They are called New York State, the federal government, the town, and the county — and he has nothing to say about it. After contributing to these charitable organizations, he has nothing left for the others.
The OFs noticed that, as the OFs in this group become older, the OFs are requiring more and more medical care, for themselves and their families. This is to be expected and, as one or more of a family becomes incapacitated, this places a lot of stress on the other members of the family.
The OFs have covered this before and there is tons or stress and anxiety placed on the caregivers and the caregiver needs as much support as the one requiring the care. This is where churches, friends, and groups like the OMOTM can fill a really important niche in people’s lives. (A scribe comment snuck in here.)
The OFs who made it to the Home Front Café in Altamont, which is not a charitable organization, were; Dave Williams, Steve Kelly, Roger Chapman, Roger Shafer, George Washburn, Robie Osterman, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, John Rossmann, Lou Schenck, Chuck Alesio, Frank Pauli, Harold Guest, Mark Traver, Jim Heiser, Otis Lawyer, Glenn Patterson, Gerry Chartier, Harold Grippen, Gill Zabel, Elwood Vanderbilt, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, Bill Krause, and me.
Location:
Tuesday, Dec. 9, was not a nice day. The Old Men of the Mountain on their way to the Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown kept — slip-sliding away, slip-sliding away/you know the nearer your destination/the more you’re slip-sliding away.
Simon and Garfunkel must have known the Northeast well. That’s what it was like getting to the restaurant Tuesday morning, and getting back home was even worse. However, some hardy OFs made it to the breakfast.
The discussion was mainly kidding back and forth, about family living, and friends.
One of the topics was what to get the wife for Christmas. It seems to the OFs that the ladies have more intuitive sense of what to get as presents then the OFs.
It was found out that many of the OFs agonize over what to get for their wives, and they hope it is the right thing. A vacuum cleaner is not one of them.
Jewelry is pretty safe, but will it be right and will she wear it? Clothes? That is another area that should be safe but most of the OFs don’t even know what size shirt their ladies wear, and will it have to be a whole outfit because most (not all) of the OFs don’t have a clue to what is hanging in the wife’s closet so matching something is out.
One OF mentioned that we should come right out and ask what she wants, and go and get it. Another OF said he tried that and she said, “Another husband.”
An OF said, at their ages, there is not much they need or want and, if there is something, they just go and check out the stores and buy it.
Last week, an OF repeated his idea: “Just get anything with the return slip because they are going to return it anyway. It doesn’t even have to fit if it is clothes, or whatever, just as long as you spend enough on it — that is the secret. At least I know what kind of stores my wife likes.”
One OF said, “Just haul them off to Kohl’s.”
Fair talk
The Altamont Fair was discussed a lot at Tuesday morning’s breakfast regarding all the changes that have been made over the years. The OFs also said that the current fair manager is retiring, and heading south.
Pretty soon, this ole globe is going to tip over with all the people headed to where the rays of the sun are longer. (As this scribe is typing this column on Dec. 10 and looking out the window at all the limbs down from about an eighth of an inch of ice and 15 to 18 inches of snow, a trip down south does not look like that bad of an idea.)
Quality show
The OFs discussed the craft show and sale at the “Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center” on Ketchum Road in the town of Knox, and some of the artisans there. They mentioned the lady that makes baskets out of pine needles, only these are not pine needles like our northern pine needles, these are pine needles from the south and are about eight to 10 inches long.
Of course, the OFs would pick up on that, and then they brought up the cookie lady. Again, the OFs would pick up on that also. The OFs thought this was a good quality show.
Collecting vs. hoarding
Then the OFs talked about collections and discussed what is a collection and what is just hoarding. That is a good question.
As it is often pointed out, a collection is when you have more than three of the same type of thing. It could be thimbles, or pickup trucks. Hoarding, the OFs maintain, is when it is just all kinds of stuff that has no rhyme or reason.
Most of the OFs are collectors, and often times discuss their collections, and even have other OFs spotting items for some other OF’s collection, even to the point of purchasing it if the OF thinks the price is in line for the other OF. The OFs go over this topic a lot.
Twice at this breakfast, the subject of women came up and, in this case, one OF who is not a collector of much did say he would like to start a collection of women.
“Three or more is a collection, right?” the OF inquired.
“Yep,” was the reply. “But it is a selective hobby,” the OF was told. “You can’t have one young one, one old one, one thin one, and one fat one.”
The OF countered, “Why not, if I were collecting thimbles, I could have one old one, one fancy one, one plain one, one for thin hands, and one for fat hands.”
The other OFs had to agree; maybe he could pick and choose.
One OF said that OF would have a tough time with that kind of collection; he had enough trouble just getting one.
“I was broke then,” the OF said. “Now I have money and that is a big chick magnet.”
The other OFs said, “That is a collection I would not want to start; I have enough trouble with one.”
“Me too,” was a quick reply from another OG.
Affairs of the heart
Now it was time to talk about affairs of the heart, and who has what in his heart, and who has had some serious repair jobs to the engine of the body.
Many of the OFs have had that organ worked on. Many of the OFs have had heart catheterizations. All but one have had no problems.
The one with the problem had his procedure performed through his arm, and at first things didn’t go right. However, everything is fine now; it was just the problem of waiting it out until the arm got back to normal.
The OFs think that this practice will soon be a thing of the past and they will be able to check the heart out without any invasive procedure.
Those OFs with enough heart to brave the weather, and make it to the Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown, were: Roger Chapman, Andy Tinning, Bill Krause, John Rossmann, Lou Schenck, Mace Porter, Harold Guest, Frank Pauli, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, and me.
Location:
On Dec. 2, the first Tuesday of the month, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Duanesburg Diner. The group trickled in slowly, just that it happened that way; there was no particular reason for the trickle.
This was the first gathering after Thanksgiving and the usual questions were asked — and by many: “How was your Thanksgiving?” and, “Do anything special?”
The answers varied from many miles “traveled to be with friends and relatives,” or many “friends and relatives traveled to our place,” or “not much, just a few people came over,” or “nothing special, we had soup and a sandwich; we make it up at Christmas time.”
Then there are always the bah-humbugs. All these holidays are made-up days by the toy manufacturers, the card makers, the costume makers, the flag and bunting makers (an OF interjected: Did you ever notice how many of the American Flags waved on the Fourth of July are made in China?), and whoever else can dupe the public into spending money for things they don’t want or need bandwagon. The next thing you know there will be a bandwagon holiday to celebrate all those who play musical instruments.
Into the future
A subject came up that was a little unusual because usually the OFs go back in time; this time, they wonder what it will be like in the next 50 years. Most of the OFs won’t be around, but the OFs’ grandkids will.
One OF thought that, the way things are going now, in 50 years there won’t be a United States of America as we know it. It is just like someone has let the dogs out, and the barbarians are running amuck, similar to what happened to Rome. This OF feels we are headed for the Dark Ages again.
Yet another OF felt that he would like to be around 50 more years, and see people on Mars, and traveling to other universes. Cancer cured. The common cold beat. No more Third World countries; all countries would be on the same page. This OF thinks the best is yet to come.
Talk about 180 degrees apart. Some OFs conjectured none of us would be around to find out who was right anyway.
Hairy subject
The subject now goes from the sublime to a much lower level, the human hair. An OF wondered why we have hair where we don’t want it and no hair where we need it.
“Yeah,” one OF said, “why does one hair on my eyebrows grow out two to three inches and it has to be cut with a pair of bolt cutters, and all the others grow shaggy and relatively the same length? Where does that one hair get the protein to grow that long?”
“Yes,” another OF chimed in, “I have a mole on my back and it has five or six black hairs growing out of it; how come? They are so tough, those hairs poke through my shirt like pieces of wire.”
One more question an OG asked was, “How come I have never heard of anyone going bald, or even losing hair in their nether regions?”
“Well, who is going to admit to that?” an OF asked.
One more OF said, “People don’t go running around with that region exposed like the top of your head so, unless you have X-ray vision, no one will ever notice.”
“To me,” the original OF said, “it is still a question if hair can continually grow ‘there,’ why can’t doctors take that gene and, through genetic engineering, steer it to your head?”
“Who knows,” an OF answered. “Maybe some bald research doctor is already working on this problem.”
“If he finds the answer,” an OF added, “he will give Bill Gates and that guy from Mexico (billionaire Carlos Slim) a run for their money.”
“What are parades for anyway?”
Some of the OFs are, and were involved in parades, especially those in the military. The OFs began talking about the Shriners and Mummers and how, at many parades, they are a big hit.
The Shriners run around in those little cars, which is quite smart because they don’t have to walk the parade route and don’t have to hire a band. An added bonus to the Shriners’ way of parading is, at the end of the parade, they just hop in their little cars and ride back to where the parade formed up.
The Mummers, on the other hand, have to march the whole distance carrying those elaborate costumes on their shoulders. If it is the Fourth of July parade, they have to be exhausted at the end.
Some of the OFs march with different fire companies, or civic organizations. An OF wondered, “What are parades for anyway? Who first thought, ‘I guess I will take my horn and walk through the street playing it?’”
One OF thought that, way back in time, it was a way of forming the Army into some kind of organized line to get them to battle.
“Not bad reasoning,” said one OF.
The other OF said, “I still don’t understand parades.”
The wooly bear knows
The OFs have been judging this winter weather, and say that little black and brown caterpillar has been right so far. Those tight black hairs at the beginning of winter indicate we are just in the middle of the beginning. (Whatever that means, but we understood.)
Those attending the breakfast at the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg and some maintaining that it is winter, and not any different than winters in the past, were: Jim Heiser, Chuck Aleseio, Glenn Patterson, Steve Kelly, Roger Shafer, Karl Remmers, Dave Williams, Miner Stevens, George Washburn, Robie Osterman, John Rossmann, Frank Pauli, Harold Guest, Roger Chapman, Lou Schenck, Mike Willsey, Gerry Willsey, Harold Grippen, Elwood Vanderbilt, Gil Zabel, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, and me.