In olden days in Ireland, Halloween marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.  Now it is celebrated all over the place with jack-o-lanterns and all manner of fun.  Skyline School will have its “Spooktacular Bingo” on November 1st in the gym.  It starts at 5:30 and will feature prizes, treats, and spooky surprises.  Costumes are encouraged. The event is hosted by the Skyline School Sunshine Committee and proceeds will go toward Christmas boxes and student supplies.  Over here in Scotland there will be torch light parades and effigies of winter burning summer—all very exciting.  Over the internet we see more excitement as a favorite Champion neighbor, Miss B.D. Woods, won first place in barrel racing at the Cabool Fun Show.  More pleasant news from there is that the Skyline VFD annual meeting and chili supper was well attended and the chili was good.

The Prominent Champion said he waited and waited for the rain that was supposed to arrive Friday and not much happened.  The little bit of drizzle on Saturday did not do much for the rain gauges, but Sunday morning had puddles in the road up Cold Springs way and about half an inch in the measuring device.  The General boasted three tenths.  No ships will be sailing down Fox Creek, because there is no water in it.  Over here on Sunday there was a glorious orange sunrise, then fog, drizzle, brilliant sunshine, some sprinkling rain, more sun, lots of wind, then a big gray cloud to obscure the sunset.  They say all four seasons can happen in a single day.  Champions report frost in the low spots, and we all know winter is coming.  Maybe there will be enough rain so that Fred the Firefighting Goat will not be called to duty.


Sunday found J.c. Owsley at the Wesley Church in Springfield.  He was attending the Jazz Band Fundraising Concert to benefit the people of St. Louis in their recovery from the devasting tornado last May.   In Champion the Sometimes Porch Band is reported to have had a short interlude with Carissa on Wednesday. Jeff Bartch played some harmonica with The General, so the tunes are still happening on the Bright Side.  There were fourteen in the circle at the Vanzant Jam with Mike Satterfield on fiddle. Little Willow Rose appeared with her Mom to brighten up the place.  She will have her first birthday around Thanksgiving.  She likes music.  Some Spaniards from Pamplona were enjoying tunes at The Captains Bar in Edinburgh on Friday.  They have the ‘running of the bulls’ over there, but no lively pubs that satisfy their musical needs.

“What a Wonderful World” is a great song recorded in the 1960s by Louis Armstrong is also being sung well by The General himself at the Vanzant Jam.  Some of the lyrics are “The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky are also on the faces of the people passing by.”  On the streets here in Edinburgh one sees people of every imaginable hue from the darkest to the fairest.  And the number of spoken languages is astounding. The Scotts speak English, but if they do not wish for you to understand, though it is English, it is indecipherable.  We hear French and are reminded that France was our first American ally and still a good one.  Had it not been for Ben Franklin, sweet talking in Paris for nine years impressing them with our desire for independence from Britain, our Founding Fathers might have been hanged as traitors.  Franklin’s efforts and France’s distain for Britain after their own war cemented an alliance that proved crucial for the founding of our Nation.  Even though some of us do not like the sound of their language, we have to appreciate the fact that they have always been champions of human rights and individual freedoms.  They are also the first to have imprisoned an ex-president for corruption and financial malfeasance.  Sarkozy will spend five years in jail.  Even far away on distant shores there are Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!

Facebook