November 28, 2016
NORMAN, OK—November 28, 2016
 Pie!
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The ties that bind families, friends and lovers together are reinforced and strengthened this time of the year. Old rifts are mended with turkey and gravy. New bonds are forged over sweet-potato pie. Those acknowledgements of good fortune and fealty are as filling as stuffing. Optimism for continued blessings is as soothing as that glass of ginger ale that settles the stomach in preparation for the best nap of the year. Champions are grateful.
Birthdays are special days for people who are special to other people. Lonnie Krider was such a person–special to a whole bunch of people as husband, father, grandfather, brother, and good friend to many, a mentor and a gifted and generous musician with a birthday on December 4th. Skyline kindergarten student Michael Hall celebrates on the 5th of December along with and Bobette Spivey who is a great appreciator of family–not just her own family, but the whole wonderful concept of family. Dawn Henson celebrates also on the 5th. She lives in Houston, Texas and has the distinction of having married into the big Henson family. Hovey is the lucky man. Ed Bell has a December 6th birthday and people who consider him to be another son, though he had parents of his own. Zak Godshall is a gifted film maker and a fortunate individual to be loved by Fair Jillian also celebrates that day. Noam Chomsky was born December 7, 1928. He is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic and political activist. He has a wealth of things to say about the current world situation.
 More pie!
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Hovie writes to say, “When I was working in the corporate world, I worked on an electronic tool that inspected pipelines. It was called a pig. When propelled through the pipeline, it would detect corrosion that would eventually lead to leaks if not corrected. I think that pipe lines are safe if they are inspected and maintenance is done.” An Old Champion engineer informs that the theories of maintenance are: preventative maintenance, predictive maintenance and run-to-failure. Preventative maintenance is self-explanatory–keep everything greased, dusted, etc. with unrelenting vigilance. An example of predictive maintenance is sending that pig down the pipeline to assess the integrity of the walls of the pipe and to predict if and when a failure might occur in order to prevent it. Run-to-failure is to just run it until it breaks and then fix it. Which philosophy the DPAL will choose is a matter of concern. They will have the option to do preventative or predictive maintenance, but the fear is that they will choose run-to-failure, as has been proven to be common in that industry, because it will be the least expensive. It will be the least expensive because they will only count the cost of the repair to the equipment and not the environmental damage which will mostly be picked up by the taxpayer. Pipeline safety notwithstanding, indigenous peoples have legitimate concerns over water quality (as do we all), the integrity of their sacred sites (think, ‘Arlington National Cemetery’ or ‘Good Hope,’ ‘Yates,’ or ‘Denlow’) and control/autonomy over the land to which they have been relegated, via the Treaty of 1858. Alternative news sources report great turmoil at Standing Rock this very day—while you are reading this.
 Even more pie!
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Hovie goes on to say, “Dawn and I just got back from a great trip. We cruised down the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Pacific Ocean, following the trail of Lewis and Clark’s corps of discovery. We had an on board historian that taught classes, with a table full of artifacts, and showed us places of interest, during the day. In the evening our entertainment was absolutely suburb our piano player had, in the past, performed with Liberace. Have a good holiday season. love hovey” Champions are happy to say they love Hovey too, and have all had a delicious holiday so far with more to come! Holiday travelers will find themselves at home again with a good storehouse of memories to sort through and enjoy on days when things seem too quiet. The wonderful onslaught of grandchildren into the Village will leave the old folks satisfied for a while. The internet has been full of reports of family fun and food. “When all of God’s singers get home, where never a heartache shall come, there’ll be no place like home when all of God’s singers get home.” A Champion uncle and Tennessee nephew warmed hearts with their harmonies. In distant places a grandmother and granddaughter played ‘Heart and Soul’ on mandolin and piano. Around the country Christmas lights are going up and Christmas music fills the background in restaurants and shopping malls. The Vanzant Bluegrass Jam will resume on Thursday by which time everyone should have recovered from their feasting. The Wednesday friends will have stories to tell in the meeting room at the Historic Emporium. Perhaps it will be warm enough for the horseshoe pitch to be enjoyed. Perhaps young Chase will get his band back together.
Across the world regime change is happening. It all seems tumultuous and unsettling. The passing of Fidel Castro is the passing of an era. His ideas shaped the lives of Cubans for generations. Some say that in this country the current presumed winning party has never approved of democracy, and never will. It goes back to pre-industrial America, when only white male property owners could vote. Others say that if you are considered to be an outsider, your views are automatically discounted, particularly if those views do not support their preconceptions. Come down to the wide, wild, woolly banks of Auld Fox Creek for a glimpse of lovely local preconceptions in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
