MUMBLINGS April 27, 2006

Seven come eleven!!

For weeks, we have been discussing various wonders of the world, trying to decide the seven greatest. These are limited to those I have seen. There are probably two or three wonders that have not been my privilege to see, but not many.

It has been my privilege to travel, and visit 101 nations in the world, and some might refer to me as a world traveler.

Since I am 90, it is necessary that I travel with someone else as my eyesight and balance are not what they once were. Fortunately, I get to travel with Matthew Metcalfe, who is an experienced traveler. He has flown many more miles than I have, but not to as many countries. After all, I have been doing this since about 1965.

So trying to select the best wonders of the world has been fun, but hard to determine. Finally, I have given up, and decided that I better make it eleven.

It is difficult to me to know which are the most outstanding… some of the wonders are man made, and some are God made. Not only have I decided on the eleven greatest wonders I have been able to see, but will try to name them in order of which I think are the greatest. No doubt, you will have different ideas and probably a month from now I might also. But here goes:

I think we will all agree that the United States of America is number one for many, many reasons. As I have for years, I am putting the Grand Canyon on the top of the list at number two of God made wonders. It is stupendous, and is worth several visits. Number three; New York City still tops my list as the greatest man made. With it’s 16 million plus people and 181 different nationalities it represented living there, it has many reasons to be towards the top of the list.

Number four is the Pyramids of Egypt, a man made phenomena that is beyond description. Number five, the Amazon River, God made, is named here because of its tremendous size, flow, and having two tributaries larger than the Mississippi River. Its bottoms or swamps cover land almost as big as the United States. It is 12 miles across 1000 miles from its mouth.

Number six is the Great Wall of China… of course man made and a phenomena because its 3000-plus miles length and its size… remember it is so tremendous it can be seen from outer space.

Number seven is the Great Barrier Reefs of Australia. This is selected because it is the single largest organism in the world by far.

Number eight is the Taj Mahal of India, proclaimed to be the most beautiful building ever built. It is also man made and has great features of interest and historical significance.

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Continued

Number nine is the Panama Canal because it’s a man made phenomena made so important because of its difficulty in its construction where thousands of people died because of yellow fever.

Number ten is the Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana and adjoining Canada, with its interesting mountain sights and glaciers.

Number eleven is the Eiffel Tower and Paris, France.

Offhand, the greatest wonder, which I have not seen but have read much, is Lake Baikal of Russia. It is 350 miles long and 5000 feet deep and has many fish and mammals that are found nowhere else in the world. Its surface water is 20% of the total fresh water on earth and about the same size as all of our five Great Lakes of the USA.

To some of you who disagree with my selections, it would be a pleasure hearing from you.

For the time being, this concludes my discussion of the great sights of the world and now we plan to pass to other subjects. Many of you have asked where I am going next and quite frankly no big trips are even in the planning stage. We do plan to go to Iowa and visit Herbert Hoover’s library. I will tell you why when we go.

Hopefully, within the next month we will be traveling to Washington to see our senators and representatives and keep in touch with other friends.

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By now you are aware of this being an important election year. People are getting interested, candidates are qualified and now we are off to the races.

Herewith I am making you a political prediction: if Governor Bob Riley is elected in November, which present indications are he will, you may look for a movement to persuade him to run for President of the United States.

The Presidential election is two years from this November, and next year when rumors start who will be possible candidates, please remember that I told you here that Riley will be one of the possibilities.

See you again soon, I hope.