This chubby potentate is the princesses’ emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

PAMPERED PRINCESSES GET THE BOOT--

This from the weekend’s London Daily Mail via Fox News: “Arab princesses kicked off British Airways plane to jeers and whistles after refusing to sit next to male strangers.”

The princesses, wearing traditional Arab dress, were returning from a day’s shopping in Milan.

The news account didn’t identify them as Muslims but Qatar’s Arab population is 100% Muslim, and, these pampered little darlings were part of the Qatar royal family so it is pretty safe to conclude they were nothing but more of the same tribe of Islamic radicals that seem to scurry around demanding the rest of the world obeys them.

The women, all relatives of the oil-rich emir had seats in business class in a party of eight on the packed airplane which included their clan’s chief and an entourage of cooks, servants and other staff.

Let me get this straight; It sounds like we have three pouty, rich, Arab females being escorted around southern Europe on a shopping spree, when, on a British flagged carrier no less, they demand their seating be rearranged because the customs of Qatar don’t allow women to mix with men who are not their relatives.

When airline officials finally booted most of this herd of Arabs, the furious passengers whistled and clapped as the captain ordered the women to be escorted off the sweltering plane which had been delayed nearly three hours over the incident.

One wag was quoted as saying, “I’m glad they finally got the boot. It’s too bad it wasn’t done while the airplane was in flight.”

Amen.

The competition was spirited as shown in this later model heat while (left) Harley Davidson Motorcycle legends Jay Springsteen, left, and Willie G. Davidson lead the ceremonial lap to open the day’s racing.

AGELESS BIKERS AT MID OHIO--

It was a venue for vintage guys to enjoy vintage motorcycles at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington last weekend. And, the marquee event was the 50th anniversary of the iconic Harley-Davidson Sportsters which were introduced in 1957.

On hand to serve as grand marshals were Harley legends Willie G. Davidson, grandson of one of the company’s founders and Jay Springsteen regarded as one of the best AMA Grand National flat-track racers of all time.

I knew it was going to be a laid-back day when we arrived at the back gate with $35 tickets in hand—and no one was tending the entrance.

We wandered through the crowds of both people and motorcycles. I lost count of the bikes we saw but I think it was about a dozen short of a bazillion.

Behind the pit area we sampled the antique ambiance with acres and even more acres of a flea market of old motorcycle parts and accessories. A clever enthusiast could easily have bought the parts and assembled, from scratch, that 1947 Moto Guzzi he always dreamed of.

I knew we were in a classy crowd when they played The National Anthem and, as far as I could see, absolutely everyone was standing still and showing some form of respect for our flag.

God Bless America.

Willie G. as he is popularly known and Springsteen led the ceremonial first lap on a card of 14 mostly 8 lap races. Applause chased them around the track.

How about this sample of entries: a 61 Norton Manx, a 68 Seeley, or a 36 Scout or, for Heavens sake, a 34 Indian. Of course that was in addition to countless bikes from later generations; The Harleys and Hondas and Suzukis and Ducatis. And, who ever heard of a Hodaka or an Ossa or a Montessa. They were there too.
While there was a strong sense of gentility in the event, the racing was spirited. Most of it anyway. Often I couldn’t see a rider’s face but I knew he was smiling, even if he was just put-putting his way around the course while savoring this classy time for him and his bike on this national stage.

And Springsteen wowed the crowd in his ageless competitive fashion with an impressive heat victory late in the day. The crowd cheered and waved as he enjoyed his victory lap. He waved back--as classy competitors do--then popped a wheelie to punctuate our mutual celebration.

Off and on all day I thought of my Pop and a family picture of him on his first cycle in the late 20s. And I remember, ever so well, the Harley brochures laying around our house in the late 50s showing that shiny Sportster, a K model I believe, that life ultimately would deny him.

Dad; wherever you are, I hope this weekend you were chasing the boys around some Heavenly track--on your souped-up K model Harley, of course.

WHERE IN
THE WORLD IS—

The Vatican

Officially, State of the Vatican City, the governmental capital of the Catholic Church, is a walled enclave of 108.7 acres entirely within the city limits of Rome, Italy.

Created in 1929, it is the smallest independent state in the world.

It is the official residence of the Pope and has an estimated population of 783.

Its form of government is an elective monarchy with the Pope being chosen by a College of Cardinals. The Pope has total legislative, executive and judicial power over The Vatican; making him the only absolute monarch in Europe.

Its security force, the Swiss Guard, is recruited solely from male citizens of Switzerland. They currently number just over 100 men and are the smallest and oldest army in the world.

The Vatican; or Holy See in a broad context, remains in the news as it seeks to resolve the sordid affair of deviant libido in its priesthood.
________________________________________

BOOK REPORT—

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Bryson and his enthusiastic but woeful sidekick Katz set out to hike the Appalachian Trail, all 2,100 miles of it (more or less) from Georgia to Maine. The author, described by one wag as capable of “wringing humor from a clammy sleeping bag,” takes us along for a hilarious, informative and compelling look at this challenging trek.

They almost achieve their goal, well, sort of. Regardless, the book is a treat!

MY HOME PHARMACY—

I am beginning to feel like an hypochondriac.

Two more prescriptions arrived from my Veteran’s Administration Rx supplier recently. One is a gooey substance called Triamcinolone. The other is a shampoo with the repulsive name beginning with Soborrheic Derma-something or other.

Both are intended to combat a scabby-leaky growth that has appeared on my scalp. Yuk.

They are now on the counter beside some stuff called Flunisolide. This is a little squirt bottle of nasal spray I use twice a day to assist in keeping my nose and sinus passages clear. It helps satisfy that instinct to breathe regularly.

Then there are the little pills called Hydrochlorothiazide. One of those each day helps with my mildly disobedient blood pressure.

Finally, there is another pill called Simvastatin. I get by with ½ of one of them each day and like to think of them as allowing me to consume an abundant supply of ice cream without worrying too much about failing grades on my cholesterol tests.

By the way, don’t ever, ever read the cautionary literature that accompanies this stuff. If folks ever suffered from a fraction of the side effects they sputter about, population control would cease to be an issue.

Mercy! I remember when I considered a couple of aspirin in a year’s time perilously close to a medicinal overdose.

A FLORAL CELEBRITY--

Lilium Orientalis THE STARGAZER LILY

Often described as one of the most adored of all lily varieties, this was my late wife Carol’s favorite flower in her rock garden. It is a hybrid lily of the Oriental group and was created in 1978 by a California lily breeder.

It gets its name from the tendency of its blooms to face the sky. Quite appropriate in my view; being in the general direction of Heaven in the Christian faith. *Sigh*

CRITTER NOTES—

Although son Craig saw a snake or so during his visit over Memorial Day, I saw my first snake here in many, many years June 26th. I first noticed it slithering across the watermeal covered pond’s surface. I couldn’t identify it because it was covered by the annoying weed but it looked to be about 2 feet long.

Twice it was forced to do a radical evasive maneuver during its swim when the nearby water boiled from the likely attack of a predator bass. I lost sight of it when it disappeared onto the relative safety of the shady bank near the stony point.

At one time, Black, Garter and Water snakes were common sights in my diversified habitat. I hope these recent sightings signal their return—in reasonable numbers, and with polite dispositions, of course.

Flying lessons have begun for the rookies in the Canada Goose squadron. The adults made several aborted take-off runs down my driveway June 28th with their obedient student pilots running along flopping their wings.

This will continue for awhile as the youngsters develop their wing muscles. One day, the miracle of flight will simply occur.

Then begins the hilarity of watching the new “pilots” learn to land themselves.

While on our morning hike recently around the southwest woods I spooked a Whitetail Deer on Flanagan’s Trail. I was within about 50 feet of the critter when it exploded into view and loped gracefully away treating me to flashing views of its white “flag” as it disappeared into the shadows cast by the rising sun.

Usually Max precedes me on these jaunts and all I hear is a ruckus when these encounters occur. But, this morning he was somewhere behind me doing his sniff-test on some other critter that had invaded “his” territory over night and I was treated to this unrestricted view.

Speaking of snakes, on July 20th I saw a Garter Snake, the first one of them in years.

The laptop computer after posting on East Harbor’s new Wi-Fi facility.

VARIED CONDITIONS FOR BLOG POSTING--
--Challenges emerge during travels

Posting the blog while on my camping outings has led to some interesting circumstances. When I was at East Harbor in May I copied my text and photo for the day to a jump stick then uploaded that to Brad and Karen Crownover’s PC for further uploading to the blog. They are permanent residents very close to East Harbor.

When I began my trip down the Ohio River I encountered my first Wi-Fi service at the Austin Lake Campground. There, I constructed the blog contents on my laptop then took the laptop to a picnic table outside the campground office where I could get online via their wireless service.

The campground owner’s wife was intrigued. She had never seen a blog posted and was delighted with the contents when she saw their facility was my feature that day. She wondered if her husband would ever be able to see the blog. Naturally, I copied the blog’s URL and sent it to their home email with my compliments.

In Marietta I planned to use the local library’s Wi-Fi service when I went into town the next morning. But, when writing the day’s material and processing the pictures in Photoshop software, my laptop suddenly came alive with a “Wireless connection now available” notice.

Evidently, some other nearby visitors had wireless networks in their campers and when they turned them on, my laptop quickly noticed. Bingo! That day’s material got posted while I sat in my own camper and hijacked a slice of their signal.

The following day’s material was done downtown at the library. Evidently my earlier benefactor had either left the campground or wasn’t using their wireless network that day.

At the Hocking Hills Campground I could use their Wi-Fi connection while in my camper. Sometimes. Other times I had to walk to their picnic pavilion to get a good signal. Still other times I had to actually go into the office and stand at a counter with my laptop about six feet from their antenna to get stuff to work.

Then, I was cycling near the office at East Harbor during this month’s visit and noticed a young lady working with her laptop on a nearby picnic table. I inquired if she was online there, and, she was! The campground had installed Wi-Fi since my last visit.

The very next day (as shown in the picture above) I did my blog’s posting while sitting on a dew moistened bench and trying to hide my monitor from the rising sun well enough to see it.

We’ve been able to listen to free radio signals since Marconi began to fiddle with that technology in 1901. I hope something just as nice happens to wireless internet service soon.