a very very very very very very very good question

G.A Roach’s last name reminds some of us who have been around this city for awhile of some very bad old days. And when the hospital's pastoral care director stood to ask a very good question at the Northwest Texas Healthcare System candidate forum he brought up another name that reminded us of those same bad old days. According to the Amarillo Globe-Republican, Roach

asked mayoral candidate Jerry Hodge to describe his relationship with the petroleum and water businessman.

"And the second part of that question is, have you already been in talks or negotiations for buying water from T. Boone Pickens?" Roach said.

Oh, snap! You got served. Hodge dodged the question, bizarrely comparing his relationship with Pickens to his relationship with his ex-wife. And then he sagely told the audience that Pickens was a “formidable opponent,” and a “threat to us.”

But older-timers than me whisper of a time when Hodge did not view Pickens as such a threat. Of a time when an older couple living near Masterson willed their gas rights to Potter County with the goal that the county would enjoy dirt-cheap heating, forever. But that particular forever was to last only a few years – only until Hodger the Dodger could find a smoke-filled room in which to meet Boone. And ever after those gas rights belonged to Mesa Petroleum.

Those of us with ex-spouses know that there are all sorts of models for that particular relationship. I’ve heard unsubstantiated reports that some exes maintain the courteous but distant relationship Hodger the Dodger alluded to, keeping the relationship businesslike and professional for the sake of the kids or whatever. But some exes suddenly briefly “reconcile” into intense dramatic flings that lay waste to all that emotional progress they have made. And some exes steal your friends, empty your bank account, and slit your tires.

Perhaps Mr. Hodge could choose a more enlightening comparison.

SPACEDARK