This retirement thing gets better and better. I’m recently back from Sofia, Bulgaria and we are now in the midst of packing for a three-week trip to Europe, The Holy Land and Egypt. I’ve already discussed a bit about Sofia, but I must mention an incident at the 20th Anniversary of the American University in Bulgaria Gala. It was held at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, which is a gem of a building and a focal point for Sofia’s rich heritage of parks and historic buildings. The theatre was very close to my hotel and I had walked by it several times, but on the evening of the Gala it was totally illuminated with fancy lights and the area outside the theatre was filled with huge tents for the big party after the presentations.
I presented myself to the students who where checking names of those invited and when they found my name they immediately called over a young woman who had been waiting for me to arrive. I was ushered up to the balcony where the stage party was enjoying canapés, wine and conversation. I was taken directly to HRH Maria Lusia, Princess of Bulgaria, who greeted me warmly and by name. She then did the most extraordinary thing - she said I have someone I want you to meet and she took me over to an elegantly dressed older man and said, “William I want to introduce you to my brother the King.” A real king! He was charming and engaging and we had a wonderful conversation. A most incredible evening.
The next day brought me back to reality rather quickly with a four am wake-up call to get to my six am flight to Paris and then onto Washington. I was one tired puppy when I got to Dulles but Cindy was there to greet me and it was a lovely autumn day for the drive to Charles Town so I quickly revived. We have been blessed with lovely weather for the past several days and it is a joy to go for early morning and late afternoon walks without the heat and humidity that was here just ten days ago.
As mentioned, we are off on Friday for three weeks and will not be bringing a proper computer, just Cindy’s iPad, which I’ve loaded with movies and songs for our entertainment pleasure. The passing of Steve Jobs reminded me about how much we take today’s technologies for granted. I began my computing in 1982 with an Apple and I’ve never owned any other brand of computer or MP3 device; heck, I even had a Newton. I was amazed at the Apple II E, thrilled with the first Mac and have enjoyed everything that has come from Apple. Just for fun I did a count today of Apple devices we have in the house and the number is twelve. The only thing we don’t have is an iPhone and that’s because I seldom, if ever, use a cell phone.
I tried to be a true red blooded American today and sat down to watch some football. It was a bust; I only lasted for about ten minutes before switching to Ken Burns’ Prohibition. I suppose I can’t get interested in football because I’ve been away from it for so long, no longer have a team to root against or for, and just can’t get too excited by the game. Perhaps later in the year when things start to get serious my interest will return. I find it amazing that we are still in the baseball playoffs in the middle of October and that professional hockey has started. These seasons just get dragged out longer and longer every year. I did a little research and discovered that in 1950 the series was over on October 7th, ten years later the series was over on Oct. 13th and every ten years after that the series crept up five days until last year when the series was over on November 1st. I’m guessing that indoor stadiums had a lot to do with it as does the expanded number of teams in the leagues, plus the fact that even lousy teams can make the playoffs.
I’m going to fly a little Cessna 172 in the morning to make sure I stay qualified. I need three takeoff and landings every three months to keep my ticket. They have ripped out the only runway at Winchester Airport and it won’t be ready for use until mid-December. In the interim they are using the taxi way as a runway for limited use, no heavy planes, no touch and goes, no flight training and it is only open from 8 am until 5 pm. It should be fun; normally the runway is 100 ft wide and now it is only 37 feet wide, which adds a little excitement to the landing. It will give me a good excuse to practice short field takeoffs and landings. I’ll need to fly over to Front Royal to do my touch and goes.
Hope your Sunday is progressing beautifully, Cindy and Wm.
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