ASH IN THE AIR--STILL

What a mess it is for stranded air travelers in Europe! That Iceland volcano that hasn't blown its top in more than two hundred years has certainly made up for lost time. Travelers endured spreading chaos on Saturday, as an Icelandic volcano continued to spew ash that winds pushed south and east over an increasing portion of the European continent, causing more airports to shut and thousands of flights to be canceled. Volcanologists had no reliable prediction of how long the eruption would continue, as travelers scrambled for train reservations, rental cars and hotel rooms. Others simply searched for comfortable benches in airports, which were considerably calmer and emptier than on Friday as passengers realized that no flights would be going in or out. Europe’s three largest airports — London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris-Charles de Gaulle — were all shut on Saturday, with officials hoping that flights could resume sometime Sunday or, more likely, Monday. Britain, France, Germany and Ireland banned most commercial air traffic for another day. Britain extended its ban until at least 7 a.m. on Sunday, while France said its main airports would be closed until at least 8 a.m. on Monday. European airlines said that up to 70 percent of flights scheduled for Saturday were canceled as backlogs increased. Historians take note! An Historical day is today-- for way back in 1961, The United States participated in the forced overthrow of Fidel Castro and his Communist government. This little fiasco was better known as the Bay of Pigs invasion. Well sometimes good ideas go very badly and this went as badly as any covert operation ever could. On this day in 1790, we lost the wise and wonderful Benjamin Franklin at the age of eighty-four. What an amazing statesman, inventor, politician and ambassador dear Mr. Franklin was. And on this day in 1964, the Ford Motor Company released the first Mustang in 1964. This is my last working day at Disneyland today for a couple of weks at least. I sure wish I could just get to be a CR and avoid this nonsense! John and I made another Vermont deadline and we are quite happy about that.