CHAMPION—October 16, 2017
After the rain Champion has that bright clean look of fall about it.
On the way to Champion Sunday morning, just before getting to the pavement, there was a puddle! An unmeasured amount of rain had fallen during the night and soaked instantly into the thirsty ground. There was enough rainfall at Champion’s open door to make a pretty puddle about a foot wide and two feet long and so shallow that it was gone before nightfall. The dust is settled for the nonce and the countryside has a bright clean autumn look about it. A stroll about the grounds on such a day is a real pleasure. One Old Champion suggests that if you are out and about, best pay good eye service to the ground. If a bird song grabs you ear or the blue sky draws your gaze, best stop in your tracks and stand still to do your observing. When the ground is as dry as it has been, it can be as slick as ice in spots and, if you live around walnut trees, the many chances to roll an ankle and take a tumble are scattered all over the yard. Old folks particularly need to pay attention to where their feet are. Life can change dramatically in less than a second. Of course that has always been true, but young folks bounce better.
Carson Cline has his birthday on October 18th. He was in Champion together with Drayson and their Mom for some wonderful family functions and fun over the week end—a gaggle of cousins to please a smiling Champion grandmother. The lovely blonde motorcyclist on the top of the hill over there on WW Highway celebrates on Carson’s birthday too. Skyline pre-kindergarten student Wyatt Shannon has his birthday on the 19th and Cyanna Davis, seventh grader, has hers on the 20th, as does Carson’s grandpa Marty. The 21st is a big day for Zoey’s grannie, for a Texan named Cidney, and a sweet guy named Randy. It was also the birthday of Champion Anna Henson who has long been gone from the neighborhood but is still fondly remembered by many. Donna Moskaly has the 22nd for her celebration and the 24th will be the day Taegan and Luxe sing, “Happy Birthday, dear Mommy!” Happy birthday to you all!
Who has a television that they do not watch too much? There are a lot of options available these days and it is easy to let it take up too much time. By the time the news is over in the evening with reports of natural disasters, political turmoil, worldwide chaos, bad behavior by individuals and so much suffering across the planet, some are thinking like Luke, “…and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly.” This may be the age of earnestness. People are outraged by the perceived disrespect for the government and its symbols while others are outraged that government has such harsh disrespect for some of its people. The score is 86 to 45. Every kerfuffle has two sides and everyone has an opinion. There is a beautiful young woman who shows up several times a day in the programming of all the local television stations. We do not know her name but she looks like a Nancy. Nancy has shoulder length red hair and a pretty symmetrical face and a nice voice–just the kind of girl you would like your daughter to be or for your son to marry. She looks right at us and says, “People are sick of politics. I am too, but fixing our tax system isn’t about politics. It means that the wealthy, the powerful, the well-connected will stop benefiting from a rigged system. It means everyday Americans will have more to spend on what’s important to them.” She has a calm, pleasant demeanor and speaks with an air of conviction that tells you she is earnest. That particular earnestness was purchased with a flat rate for making the ‘spot’ and then a residual every time it is broadcast. In another video, our girl, the talented, beautiful actress, with long blonde hair this time, extols the virtue of some litigators who pursue financial vengeance against the malfeasance of pharmaceutical companies on behalf of sufferers. Nancy has residuals coming in from a number of places and you know she must be making a good living. Chances are pretty good that she is not making a good enough living to really benefit from this particular Tax Plan Proposal. In contrast to the script she recites so convincingly, even a superficial study of the proposal reveals that the cuts will benefit the wealthiest of the wealthy like Charles and David Koch who fund the outfit called Americans for Prosperity. It is one of the most influential American conservative organizations and the very outfit that paid our Nancy. If she is a self-employed actress, she would be advised to be putting something aside in addition to paying her FICA taxes, because this proposal could clearly have some long range ramifications for Social Security. The enormous tax relief for the billionaire brothers, Chuck and Dave, and folks like them will remove $3,000,000,000,000.00 to $7,000,000,000,000.00 (3 to 7 trillion dollars) from the tax revenue over the coming decade. What that means for everyday Americans is even less support for education, infrastructure, health and safety and all the benefits of being a proud citizen of the Great Nation—clean air, safe food, aid in the time of distress, etc. All the machinations of the new tax plan proposal are complicated and couched in legal language that is difficult to decipher, so busy everyday folks are not digging into it too deeply which is fine with Chuck and Dave. It would be nice if Nancy could explain the flip side in that easy pleasant way she has. Her kinfolks probably smile every time they see her on TV. They know, as we all do, that she is an actress, not an economist, and is just saying what she is hopefully being paid well to say. When we get rich, perhaps we will employ Nancy to say, “Champion! Looking on the Bright Side!” Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico there is suffering by American citizens that does not seem to titillate the media or the government. It is an embarrassment—a disgrace—reference Ephesians 6:12.
Should a person wander unconnected into this part of the world, he or she might acknowledge having fallen into a sweet spot—with jam every day of the week. When Lynette Cantrell’s acoustic jam on the square in Mountain Grove needed a home out of the elements, the folks at Clark’s Eatery on the South Side of the Square opened their banquet room for the musicians—every Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. Lynette had a cold and could not attend the first evening, but here were a dozen or more musicians there and a lively couple of hours of music ensued. Acoustic musicians are welcome as are folks who just like to hear a good eclectic jam. Come down to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Auld Fox Creek for good conversations about music or any other subject. Elmer is fond of Earnest Tub. He may have sung, “Farther along, we’ll know all about it. Farther along we’ll understand why. Cheer up, my brother. Live in the sunshine. We’ll understand it all by and by” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
A dozen musicians showed up for Lynette Cantrell’s first acoustic jam at Clark’s Eatery on the South Side of the Square in Mountain Grove on Tuesday Night. Everyone welcome from 6 to 8 p.m. Bring your acoustic instruments or just your enjoyment.
