March 23, 2015
CHAMPION—March 23, 2015
Champion Drifts
A few warm, sunny days in a row has lifted the spirits of many an old Champion and some of them are stiff and sore from overexertion after being comfortable around the fire all winter. Others have farm chores that they get out and do every morning, up and out of the house by seven. They are feeding cattle, checking fences, looking after their agrarian responsibilities, day in and day out, no matter what the weather. In addition to wholesome food, they provide an excellent example for good living and they are probably not stiff and sore and surely not sunburned.
 Gordon Reynolds and his friend Sam
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 Artist, Morag Edward
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Elizabeth Mastrangelo Brown was 23 in 2013. She is a little older now, having had her birthday on the 16th. The poet, Billy Collins was born on March 22, 1941. He said, “A sentence starts out like a lone traveler heading into a blizzard at midnight, tilting into the wind, one arm shielding his face, the tails of his thin coat flapping behind him.” The 23rd belongs to the local Maytag repair man, to Elva Upshaw Brott, still a smiling bride, and to Judie Pennington who says, “Two nights in a row of 55 degrees, and some sun and Wow! Mushrooms! Generally around tax time.” Because her friend does not really know if Judie’s birthday is in February or March, she gets celebrated twice every year. A lovely gentleman in Edinburgh, Mr. Gordon Reynolds, also celebrates on the 23rd. He is an excellent musician and the go-to guy if you are looking for real bluegrass music in that fair city. Troy Powell had a wonderful smile and a great appreciation of bluegrass and gospel music. He was born on March 26, 1926, and passed away on his birthday in 2001. Jasmine Baker is in the third grade at Skyline School. Her birthday is the 27th. She shares the day with school bus driver, Mr. Ted. Joseph Fulk is a kindergarten student who celebrates the 28th, and seventh grader, Gavin Sartor, celebrates the 29th. Ewan McGregor and Christopher Walken, movie actors, Cesar Chaves, Al Gore, and Barney Frank, political activists, Rene Descartes, philosopher, and composer, Joseph Haydn, all share their birthday with Edinburgh’s charming artist, Morag Edward, on March 31st. That is quite a pool of talent across many disciplines.
Among the many subjects covered in the Wednesday Champion Chat was the number of grease rack bridges in the area. Mr. Ray says they are also called stringers and steel ‘railins.’ Bob Leach drove a big truck (maybe he said a feed truck) over a high grease rack bridge across the Gasconade. Ray had an adventure across one closer to the water and one of the Mr. Stones said there is a bridge made of white oak logs across a branch around here somewhere. It might be a savings of materials to have an open place down the middle of the bridge, but it might pose an engineering problem, and certainly a pedestrian might be challenged. A newcomer to the discussion heard a regular say that he had been going someplace down in Arkansas for twenty-three years running. Later on, the newcomer asked, “What were they running. Was it horses or was it dogs? “ By the time he spends a few hours around those tables, the new Champion will know that ‘running,’ in this instance, means ‘consecutive years.’ He will be hearing all manner of things at the table as well as in the great outdoors in his new neighborhood. Sound echoes and amplifies through the hills and hollers. A conversation, clear as a bell, might drift into the back yard clothes line from down the road, across a horse pasture, and on the other side of a hill. That chainsaw running might sound like the front yard trees are being harvested when “Timber!” is being shouted on the other side of the mountain. The wonders of this beautiful part of the world include starry nights with no light pollution and a welcoming community. Champion!
One of Elmore Leonard’s fictional characters is an eloquent speaker by the name of Boyd Crowder. During a period of religious fervor, he cautioned against “a gift that blinds the eyes of the wise and diverts the words of the righteous.” It is unclear if this is scriptural or just poetic. Boyd might discuss Acts 23:5 where Paul says not to speak evil of the ruler of thy people or Romans 5 where tribulation works patience and patience, experience and experience, hope. “Those who control their passions do so because their passions are weak enough to be controlled.” That is according to William Blake. Fredrick Douglas said,” It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” “You have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.” Ken Kesey said that and Retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (U.S. Army Retired) says to politicians who want US ground troops deployed: “Let’s draft your kids.” There is a lot of money to be made in war. It has been suggested that Mr. Cheney and Haliburton (Brown and Root) could well afford to look after all the Veterans and their families of all the wars since the bombing of Bagdad back in 2003. Back then Brent Scowcroft wrote that “Possibly the most dire consequences would be the effect in the region… there would be an explosion of outrage against us… the results could well destabilize Arab regimes”, and, “could even swell the ranks of the terrorists.” The millions of people who protested that war around the world (three million in Rome, a million in Australia, a million in New York City, and Washington D.C., etc.) can now say, “We told you so.” That does not, as they say, “feed the bulldog.” Ray Charles sang, “The world is in an uproar. Danger’s all around.” A Champion sings, “If you were a dainty dish of sweet cream butter and I was a fancy filigreed silver butter knife, I’d smear you all over these hills, just like the daffodils.”
According to Linda’s Almanac from up at The Plant Place in Norwood, the 27th and 28th will be the best days to plant above ground crops. Ron, the weatherman and the lovely Amy Dyer, say a cold front will be moving in about that time. Champions will just take what comes and make the best of it. People living in low lying areas with early crops in already will have to devise ways to cover them against a hard frost. The almanac is up on the bulletin board by the back door in the meeting room at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion. Come add your wisdom to the conversation and share your garden lore. Pete Seeger says, “Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow. Please bless these seeds I sow, ‘til the rain comes tumbling down” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
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