OT: Hi Y'all

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

I ain't daid .. nope .. ;-p Somebody asked me to declare that on

account'a I been laying low since last Wednesday .. so I declare.

 

Was supposed to head south last Thursday .. to the stills. But this was

during a religious holiday .. Feast of Sacrifice .. honoring Abraham on

the mountain, etc., and one where animals are purchased and the meat is

given to the less fortunate. Slowly, Turks are leaning toward giving

money instead of meat. Anyway .. last minute, the distiller calls and

asks me to postpone cause inlaws and outlaws were coming from outta town

for a traditional holiday shindig, etc.

 

But .. I was already suited up and car loaded and mentally, I had left

my office .. so I physically did the same thing .. ;-p Drove an hour

out of Ankara .. into high pine forests that remind me of the Bavarian

Alps .. place back in the hills called Kizilcehamam .. Red Springs or

Red Baths. Went to a thermal resort called Patalya .. some kinda place

it is too. Big swimming pool .. maybe an acre or more .. 1/4 inside a

building and 3/4 outside - you duck your head and swim through a gate to

get outside. Water is kept at a relative constant of 88F be allowing

the controlled mixture of snow runoff and thermal water.

 

In the thermal pools .. which some dummies get into .. the temperatures

are close to 100F. Snow all around and snowing from time to time - and

swimming in an outdoor pool during snowfall is kinda fun it is.

 

Patalya has mud baths, Finnish and Swedish saunas, aromatic baths - with

infused aromatic plant waters poured into the tubs. But the thing I

like the most is the marble Turkish Baths (Hamams). Every 4 feet or so

along the walls is a spigot and marble basin with every other one being

ice cold or pretty danged hot .. pans are in the basins so you can dump

one or the other or both over your bod as you see fit. The entire place

is marble and the floor constantly drains.

 

But there is more to a Turkish Hamam ... for around $4.50, you get a

exfoliation with a silk rag .. nice it is .. and then a good massage by

an experienced person. Feller used Turkish almond oil that had leaves

of bay laurel, rosemary, myrtle and Gawd know what else in it - and as

he had trained in Europe so he knew what he was doing. Some of the old

fashioned Turkish fellers twist you into a pretzel .. ;-p I could feel

stress drain out and energy pour in ... it was a super-nice massage.

Kinda costly too .. 45 minutes was (based on the day's exchange rate ..

about $13.79 ... ;-p

 

Read a lot .. danced Folk Dances nights .. slept a lot .. ate far too

many rich foods, drank a few toddies, etc., walked in the hills and

gained a couple of kilos in three days. Came back here to forty-eleven

zillion, one hundred and leventy-five billion or so messages ... well,

maybe closer to 2,000 but still too dang many .. :-9

 

Been trying to work up some things folks know about .. betwixt lots of

interruptions and meetings and visits and the like .. :-( Assistant

Secretary of State Pierson and assorted straphangers visited the Turkish

Ministries and they invite American business persons .. so I had to go

to some meetings and dinners and the like .. loads of fun .. :-( Then

today, had a long visit to my office from an old buddy who used to be

Chief of Police of a number of cities .. then was Chief of Internal

Investigations (Shoo Fly) of the Turkish National Police ... now Chief

of Police of Samsun, on the Black Sea .. a most beautiful resort area.

 

Tekin Akin he is and he is perhaps the most honest Turkish Top Cop I

have ever known ... a good buddy and I enjoy his visits but it still

distracts me from work.

 

Samsun is around 5 hours north of Ankara and a favorite vacation spot

for Turks and Europeans. Ruins in the area go back to 5,000 BC - had a

lotta names over the centuries but one of the most famous was Amisos.

There's a superb museum of ethnography there.

 

Tekin had his driver buy, from the early morning Black Sea catch, fresh

Hamsi (anchovy) and brought them down in a cooler ... I had the maid

cook them for lunch cause I am a Hamsi Monster .. ;-) He also brought

me four flavors of the famous Black Sea Helva, which I have considered

importing and offering from AVNP.

 

Anyhow .. now I must visit him in Samsun and I'll likely stay a week ..

probably in July or so when it is cooler there than in Ankara.

 

So ... I'm back to grinding away at more subjects than the Walrus and

the Carpenter talked about. The Good Lawd Willing and the creeks don't

rise, about the middle of next week I'll have time to go to the bathroom

without feeling like I'm neglecting work .. ;-p

 

If you haven't received a reply from me on routine correspondence, don't

feel neglected or singled out .. join the crowd because I have just flat

not answered anything but orders because I'm trying to deal with the

shoes and ships and sealing wax that is piled up and the crocogaters

that are snapping.

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

PS: Yesterday I made my twice monthly pilgrimmage to my US Army Post

Office the other side of Ankara .. and waiting for me was four Video

Tapes plus 5 CDs with around 20 some odd Kuntry & Western songs on each

one .. and I wanna thank Marilyn and her husband, Mark, who she calls

the Nutty Recorder .. ;-p for their kindness ... :-)