December 29th 2009

The Old Men of the Mountain met at the Home Front Café Tuesday, December 29, in Altamont on a very cold and blustery day.

Some of the OF’s have weather stations and around 2:30 to 3:00 a.m. there was a gust of wind up to 70 mph – that is darn close to hurricane force. Some said it was around that time the front really decided to come through and their houses shook. One said that his roof whistled, and it has never done that before. Another OF said that the wind kept him from sleeping soundly. The OF said that the sound quite often was like that of a locomotive going through that kept waking him up.

When the OF’s got up to go to breakfast the temperature was about 3 degrees. It has been a lot colder we admit, but then again the OF’s were younger. The OF’s skin is getting thinner, or the nerves are getting closer to the surface, so many feel the cold more than they used to.

Our pickins were slim this morning because of the weather. One carload had two phone calls from the OF’s who usually ride together in that car. They were not going because it was too cold. So the crowd thinned down some because the covers seemed better than getting up.

At the Home Front this a.m. there was a table, directly across from where the restaurant sets up for the OF’s. Generally at the Home Front they set up fruit plates or cookies for the OF’s to start on, and this morning there were bowls of “Clementines” (which we call seedless tangerines). This was a nice touch with Vitamin C to start the day. Back at another table were four guys who many of the OF’s knew very well, and they started telling stories back and forth about how certain events intertwined. The OF’s got to laughing, one so much we thought (not only did his face get red) that he might even choke. It was brought out that someone should write a book about the small town events that swirl around where the OF’s go, and if written down would add a lot of humor to lives of anyone reading about actual accounts of some of the happenings in small town America.

Many books have been written about small towns, but the areas the OF’s travel in would certainly add to the color of what is the United States of America. These stories and anecdotes were basically related by the OF’s and two who are not OF’s but could be included with them…namely George Pratt and Jack Pollard. Along with the OF’s participation in this repartee they kept us all in stitches.

The conversation drifted into what people steal, and why anyone will take something that does not belong to them. Most of the OF’s don’t understand this. One OG said because those that steal are too lazy to work, as if thievery isn’t work. The OF’s then started telling stories of some heists they knew about. One was about a friend of an OF who had a construction trailer that he no longer needed so he placed it on the side of his driveway with a For Sale sign. One day he looked out and it was gone. Someone just hooked onto it and hauled it away. How do these people live with themselves knowing they have property that was stolen? Another OF related how someone stole a boat, a large boat, right out of a marina. Fortunately this jerk was caught because his trailer had a flat tire and the State Police nailed him with the stolen boat and unregistered trailer…duh.

Another OG told the story of a friend that had an old large snow thrower that did not run. This friend of the OG knew that larceny lurks in many people so he put it in front of his place with a For Sale sign on it and a price of 500 dollars. Just like the trailer it was stolen, only this guy chuckled because it saved him from hauling it to the dump.

We also talked about hiking in the winter weather. Today (December 29) would not be fun for any of us to hike but one true hiker in the group said that there are people who really enjoy hiking in this kind of weather. This OF maintains one of the lean-to’s that are established throughout the hiking trails of New York. The one he maintains is in the Adirondacks. There are some along the Long Path which goes from the George Washington Bridge to Thacher Park. This OF listed all the mountains this path travels as it traverses this stretch of geography. The Long Path is 347 miles long and is used by many people. Not many hike the whole distance but it is used in many localities for daily hikes. Click on http://www.nynjtc.org/trails/longpath.html to see the maps, and where the trails winds through our area. It is very interesting. Anyone wanting to walk the path can start in Thacher Park and follow the light green round circles painted on trees that mark the path. This path is well maintained and covers some very picturesque scenes of New York State like Thacher Park, Vroman’s Nose, Kaaterskill Falls, Schoharie Creek and many other places. A major piece of equipment for any hike along the trail is a camera, and a clear memory stick.

Those brave enough to attend the breakfast this morning at the Home Front Café in Altamont were: Mace Porter, Gary Porter, Robie Osterman, Roger Chapman, Paul Paulsen, Ted Pelkey, Harold Guest, Harold Grippen, Mike Willsey, Jay Francis, Paul Paulsen, and me. And we should add, though not members, but a good part of this morning’s discussions were Jack Pollard and George Pratt.

December 22nd 2009

This Tuesday, December 22nd ( the days start getting longer; the earth has tipped once again) the Old Men of the Mountain met at Mrs. K’s Restaurant in Middleburgh where the restaurant put on quite a spread for an OF Christmas Party. Cookies, cake, cheese and pepperoni, crackers, deviled eggs, salads, and a meat platter… all kinds of goodies lined the tables, and still the OG’s ordered breakfast.

A bouquet of flowers was presented to Loretta and Patty for going beyond the call of duty with all the OF’s. There was music and a little bit of singing. The OF’s are not into the singing thing (for lack of a better word) that early in the morning. We do have a regular in the group, Jim, a professional musician who is an instructor and performer and that is his livelihood, but he was not one of the suppliers of music. In this case (Jim) our young OF was part of the audience. With Jim the OF, or OG, or OT, tags do not quite fit because in essence he is none of those. The group did join in on singing “God Bless America” which is a good song but not necessarily a Christmas type song.

With the moving along of the health care (reform?) legislation to committee, and then to the House the OF’s had their own healthy debate on the issue. Both sides were defended. We do need reform of some sort but in the opinion of the OF’s we all agreed that the way this thing is going it is not going to work because there were too many sneaky deals done by the politicians. As the OF’s all know if there is anyone you can’t trust it is a politician and yet we are all placed in the bind that what they finally decide we are stuck with and have to pay for. The politicos don’t care because they are insulated from whatever they propose, and whatever they do. If they were not, as one OF put it, the whole kit and caboodle would all be in jail.

The OF’s have expressed that opinion over and over and they try to find anything a politician has said that will go down in cost, or will not get their hands into the OG’s wallets and we bet it can’t be done. The OF’s tried to get off this subject but it was hard; it carried over to what little we really know of how other countries work. We mentioned friends, and friends of friends that were involved in some way in the health plans of other countries. In order to understand how these plans work some of the OF’s would have to get involved on a personal level (either themselves or a close relative) so that the OF’s could be in contact daily so they could see what actually goes on, and especially how it turns out.

This whole health care issue is huge and in essence the OF’s, no matter what side of the reform they are on, haven’t much of a clue as to what is going to happen, and whether it will be good or bad. The OF’s, like everyone else, will have to wait and see.

The ad put out by Gilibrand, or one that someone did for her, is one big laugh. This was a bipartisan snicker because of timing and content, like she did all the work, all by herself on health care reform. Just our opinion.

This scribe was glad there was singing to get off this subject, however, in checking his notes there was not much else in them that wasn’t about the current cold snap, the wind last night, missing the big snow…normal conversation.

A small group of OF’s made a slight detour and stopped to view the construction of Jack Miller’s new building on the flats between Schoharie and Middleburgh. The group of OF’s was duly impressed by the new construction and the eventually heated floor.

Thos attending the breakfast at Mrs. K’s Restaurant in Middleburgh and wishing all their OF buddies Merry Christmas were: Carl Slater, Miner Stevens, Ted Pelkey, John Rossmann, Robie Osterman, Gerd Remmers (who brought his squeeze box and led some singing at his end of the table), George Washburn, Roger Chapman, Skip Skinner, Harold Guest, Walt Hill, Henry Witt, Mace Porter, Gary Porter, Roger Shafer (who brought his guitar and led the song God Bless America), Steve Kelly, Tom Hotaling, Paul Paulsen, Willard Osterhout, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, Harold Grippen, Mike Willsey, Rev. Jay Francis, and me.

December 15th 2009

Tuesday, the 15th day of December, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg. They had the tables in the backroom set up a little differently so that even the bigger guys could sit against the wall. Generally we would sort out who was the smallest (and in our group that is easy) and have them sit on the wall side but the way it was today anybody could sit on either side of the long table.

Again we had a couple of small earthquakes in the Hilltowns. Some of the OF’s felt the quake or if they didn’t feel it, they say they heard it. Some of those that heard it said it sounded like a thunder clap, and other OF’s said it sounded like a loud shotgun blast. Still others that lived very close to where the paper reported it never felt anything or did they hear anything, and they were home at the time.

When the news reported that we have had 23 shakes up here this year the OF’s were wondering where were we. That is almost two quakes a month and some of the OF’s have not felt any of them. One OF mentioned that maybe with our loss of hearing, the sense of feel may be on the wane also. Then another OG said feeling wasn’t one of the five senses. OH, OH! Here we go. The five senses were established as sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. Feeling was not one of them. Then one OF said if you touch something and yet don’t feel it how do you know you have touched it? To avoid a long discussion it was agreed that feeling went with touch so the OF considered it a sense. This allowed us to say our sense of feeling was less like the others.

It is not like the sensations of the quake were not there these OF’s just did not sense them.

Last week at the Alley Cat, one of the OF’s went to pay his bill and walked his way to the counter to do it. This OF was distracted (which is not hard to do) by some other OG’s a couple tables back into the restaurant. Then he said to another table of OG’s that he had better pay his bill and reached for his wallet. Oops…no wallet. The look on his face was of complete panic. The OF started the normal routine of going through one pocket after another and to do the same thing over, until it became quite obvious that the wallet wasn’t on his person. A couple of the OF’s noticed his plight and offered to pay his tab. He was getting ready to accept these offers when the OF began to audibly retrace his steps of earlier in the morning and came to the conclusion he left it a Stewarts in Altamont. Then the waitress announced from the cash register, “Hey! Listen up did any of you Mountain Men lose a wallet?” Sure enough it was our OF that thought he had lost it, thirty miles away in Altamont and there it was only twelve feet away. But like anything else if you don’t know where it is, it could be on another continent.

Now this is what happens when your hair and/or beard becomes gray or white. When you are distracted there is this tendency to forget what you were doing before the distraction. This OG had taken his wallet out to pay his bill and was distracted. The OG then placed his wallet on the counter and walked back to talk to the table of OF’s that had distracted him. Forgetting he had gotten as far as taking his wallet out to pay his bill, he thought he had better go and do it, not realizing that he had already been to the counter to do just that. Happens from time to time to all of us.

It has been done again. What may you ask? Going to the wrong bloody place. Each occurrence has its own little twist to it. As regular readers know most of the OF’s car pool. On this day it was to the Alley Cat and the driver picked up passenger number one as usual. Then he proceeded to passenger number two who did not come out, so the driver went to the door and the OF’s daughter- in-law, and wife, and the dog, told the driver that they had already gone. OK.

So the driver continues on to the next passenger and no signs of life around the place, no lights on, yet both cars in the driveway. Passenger number one gets out and goes to the door, and gets no answer but he does hear the dog barking so he waited awhile and still no one came. The two OF’s continued on to the breakfast.

When the two OF’s arrived at the Alley Cat the ones that were supposed to be there on their own weren’t. Where were they? The two that went didn’t want to call the no-shows thinking that maybe the OF’s had made arrangements to do something else like Christmas shopping (wink, wink) and they might open a can of worms for the other OF’s, so no calls were made. This week we found out that these OF’s thought the breakfast was going to be at Duanesburg and were sitting waiting for the OF who was driving to pick them up in the Knox Reformed Church parking lot. More gray hair getting in the way.

Those attending the breakfast at the Duanesburg Diner (the correct place) and all sitting comfortably were: Dave Williams, Miner Stevens, Roger Chapman, Paul Paulsen, Robie Osterman, Henry Witt, Walt Hill, Gerd Remmers, George Washburn, John Rossmann, Mace Porter, Gary Porter, Ted Pelkey, Frank Pauli, Harold Guest, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, Mike Willsey, Dennis White, Harold Grippen, Willard Osterhout, Gerry Chartier, and me.

December 8th 2009

As this scribe types this little notice for our breakfast on Tuesday the 8th of December at the Alley Cat restaurant in Schoharie, the snow outside his window is not coming down vertically but horizontally. Any snowflake that started its trip from whatever cloud in the heavens…say over Albany…may finally meet the ground somewhere in Schoharie.

As usual breakfasts in the past contain the conversation of what work was like when the OF’s did that sort of thing. The OF’s still work, and many work hard, but it is different. When the OF decides he wants a cup of coffee the OG goes and has a cup of coffee; no waiting for break time, or having to tell someone that you are taking your break now, the OG just goes and does it. Or if the OF becomes frustrated, or tired, and a friend drops by he can say “The heck with it, I will finish it when I finish it” and go with the friend or not. There is one little hitch to all this and that is sometimes the OF is working for the toughest boss of all. That boss generally has long hair and is built different than the OF, and wears a band of gold on her left hand.

In this work conversation we discussed safety, and some of the work related accidents the OG’s have witnessed. The OF’s that worked for larger corporations that had strict safety rules, and even safety people whose only job was to be sure the employees followed these rules, had accidents. One OG said that most of the time those that got hurt circumvented the rules. Quite often it was because the employee had done the same procedure or task so many times and had taken a particular short cut without incident until one day the reason for the rule surprised the employee and he got hurt.

The OF brought up climbing and the use of safety belts now and how they did it when we were young. My goodness! It is a wonder the OF’s are still around when the stories are told of how these OG’s used to anything.

The only safety director on a farm is the farmer himself. In the beginning industry would build machines with drive wheels whirring, gears spinning, shafts turning, belts whipping and not a safety guard to be found anywhere. Today most all of these situations are guarded in one fashion or another. To start a John Deere tractor it was necessary to spin the fly wheel, with the petcocks open to get it running. Once running you had to reach through the spinning fly wheel to close the right hand petcock. When driving this tractor the pedals to operate it were only about a foot from the spinning fly wheel, AND we drove these things while the OF’s were 8 to 10 years old. This scribe drove one of these tractors and had to stand up to drive it.

On OF mentioned how we used to climb without belts or cages and many OF’s fell. This caused the OF’s to mention that the OG’s today think twice about climbing a six foot step-ladder. Some might still climb but we bet they will be a bit shaky.

We brought the safety issue to what sports were like when we played them. Today the players of football, basketball, baseball, and even things like volley ball with all the gear they have on look like a bunch of wimps. The OF’s batted without gloves, and arms wrapped up and without helmets, and that is only baseball. The OFs say that the records of today do not compare with the records of 40 or 50 years ago. The development of the equipment aids the players to such a degree that it is impossible to compare. Golfers hit longer drives because of the balls, and clubs are completely different. Many baseball games and football games are played indoors where wind and weather is not a factor. Basketball players are now so tall they don’t even have to jump to stuff the ball through the net.

Games are so micro-managed that the opposing teams know what each player had to eat before the game and can tell who might have an upset stomach, or who will be hungry and it will affect the way they play just enough so the other team can counteract with either plays or players. One OF said, “Don’t get me started on the sinful amount of money they make so only rich people can afford to go to the professional games.” Sports are another area of society that points to the stratification of the populace.

Those attending the breakfast at the Alley Cat, and being good sports about it were: Ted Pelkey, Harold Guest, Roger Chapman, John Rossmann, Dave Williams, Gary Porter, Mace Porter, Robie Osterman, Henry Witt, Frank Pauli, Steve Kelly, Roger Schafer, Arnold Geraldsen, Don Moser, Paul Paulsen, Bill Livingston, Ted Willsey, Harold Grippen, Mike Willsey, Gerry Chartier, Jim Rissacher, Skip Skinner, and me.

December 1st 2009

As Snoopy would say it was a dark and stormy night and the Old Men of the Mountain went out to play. The day was Tuesday on December first, and the OG’s headed over the mountain to Mrs. K’s Country Kitchen in Middleburgh. The OG’s mogged thru the brush and brambles all night until they finally emerged on the outskirts of Middleburgh all disheveled and covered with grass and twigs, hair all matted and clothes tattered and torn, but they made it to the breakfast none the less. The sun peeked from behind the clouds, and then darted back, so the clouds could sprinkle their first flakes of snow just as the OF’s left the restaurant to let the OF’s know winter will be near, and the OF’s could utter the well known phrase “shiver me timbers” quite a few times in the coming months.

The topic of conversation first off was on Tiger Woods. (The scribe is typing this after all the scandal (?) has come out. At the time of the breakfast what we know now was not known then.) One OF commented you don’t smash up a car the way that vehicle was smashed by just a case of misjudgment. The OG’s would lay dollars to doughnuts that his wife was after him with that nine iron as he was trying to get away. One OG said she probably nailed him once or twice before he got into the car and it is hard to drive with black eyes and having a nine iron cracked across your skull. From experience the OF’s know better than to mess with a woman scorned.

Another topic was sleeping as we age. When the OF’s were younger it was work, play, eat and sleep. Get up in the morning and start over. This morning the OG’s discussed how we dream, and what we dream about. Some dreams were able to be recalled, however, none were remembered in their entirety. One OF mentioned that he has this reoccurring dream; it is not a bad dream, but he has the same dream quite often, and sometimes twice in one night. One OF said he dreams in color, and is generally lost, or driving someplace and never gets there. That is quite a common dream with this OF.

Along with the dreaming is another phenomenon that often takes place. The OF’s fall asleep say at 10pm and wake up at 11pm, wide awake and think they have slept all night and expect it to be 6 or 7 in the morning. In this discussion on sleeping this apparition was quite common to all the OF’s. The OG’s say they wake up and feel wide awake and well rested. Some, when they realize what time it is are able to go back to sleep, while others do get up and either raid the refrigerator, or have a cup of tea, and then go back to bed. By the way, all the OF’s said this was not the normal nightly bathroom call, where with eyes just slits, and the body only ten percent awake the OF stumbles to the bathroom, and then stumbles back to bed and doesn’t know how he managed both.

Most of the OG’s take naps, some real long ones, and some for only about 20 minutes to half and hour. These daily snoozes do not seem to come in to play with this type of waking up after sleeping only an hour or so.

The topics flowed back and forth until we listened to one OF describe his latest object search for something his dear wife wanted and she was giving him directions to find it. It went something like this: “Dear, will you get that thing I just used from the dinning room?” OF: “What thing?” Wife: “You know the thing in the drawer in the dinning room.” OF: “What drawer?” Wife: “Oh, I think it is in one of the drawers of the hutch, or maybe the side board. You know it has that long brown handle on it.” OF: “That’s nine drawers. Can I at least have a hint, honey bun?” Wife: “You OF!! You are useless – I will get it myself!” The OF relating the story had many more questions in this 29-question game but to save a tree this scribe decided to cut it short. Anyway, you get the idea. How many of the OF’s have been through this, and how many OF’s have put their wives through the same type of mental torture game.

At one time during the breakfast one of the OF’s made a wise remark to the waitress, not an off color remark, just a wise remark, and Patty was not in the mood for this, and she replied. “Keep it up buster and you will be eating your breakfast out on the street!” to which she got a great big round of applause from the OF’s.

Patty explained her first customer got her off on the wrong foot, but the OF’s were changing that and making it much more pleasant just by us being there. She said the first customer told her a joke which he more than likely got off the internet, and she began to tell the joke.

It seems three ladies were walking down the beach and came across a bottle lying in the sand. One of the ladies leaned down and picked it up. She began to dust it off when Poooofff out popped a Genie. The Genie looked around and said, “I can grant only three wishes and seeing that there are three of you ladies each of you get one wish.”

The plainest one of the three spoke up first and said, “I would like to be the most beautiful girl in the world.” And zap she was… she was statuesque and beautiful. The other ladies saw this so the second lady said, “I want to be the richest lady in the world.” And zap…she had diamonds all over, packets of stock certificates, and suitcases full of money and she was rich. The third lady saw all this and said to the Genie, “I want to be the smartest person in the whole wide world.” Bingo! Another zap and she was turned into a MAN!!!!

Of course this could be told in reverse, but Patty is the wrong one to tell a story with that kind of ending first thing in the morning.

Those attending the breakfast at Mrs. K’s Restaurant in Middleburgh and enjoying the show with the breakfast were: Skip Skinner, Miner Stevens, Harold Guest, John Rossmann, George Washburn, Gerd Remmers, Carl Slater, Ted Pelkey, Henry Witt, Frank Pauli, Tim Thompson, Roger Chapman, Mace Porter, Gary Porter (who again parked right in front of the door. The last time the OF’s were at Mrs. K’s Mace & Gary beat out another carload of OF’s to the same spot), Steve Kelly, Roger Schafer, Arnold Geraldsen, Dom Moser, Paul Paulsen, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, Bob Rissacher (Jim’s uncle), Mike Willsey, Harold Grippen, Willard Osterhout, and me.