There I was late at night in Reims, France and had found a hotel; I let in a young couple who were just behind us and they got the last room!

What would we do? We were weary and were on the way to Munich to see friends. We drove around and found a small hotel still open. The old gentleman at the front desk did not, or would not, speak English. We both knew some German, however, so I asked him, “Ich habe ein Frau und zwei kline kindern; haben zie ein zimmer frei?” (I have a wife and two small children; do you have a room free?) He did, and led us to the oldest elevator I’ve seen, essentially an iron cage that was open on all sides. It got us up to our room, and sleep came easily. [another “thank you, Lord!]

EPISODE 24

There I was, seated at the kitchen table of a heilpraktiker who had just given my son some medicine for nausea that we prescribe back home to cause vomiting!

We had arrived in Munich, having driven from England and across France with the required yellow covers on the headlights of our Morris. We were staying with the Haslachs, and had met Erika in our village of Eynsham when she was there to visit a relative. She and her father were both heilpraktikers, or “healing practitioners”.

After her father had administered the anti-nausea medication, I looked at the little bottle and noted that it contained the essence of ipecac, the medicine we use at home to cause a patient to vomit certain poisons. These German practitioners are big on homeopathy, and use medications that are so diluted that only the “essence” of the original substance remains. The principle is that “like cures like”. Sam’s nausea was cured. I later found an article in JAMA that showed that homeopathic medicines do work!

They also use a variety of other techniques, such as acupuncture, accupressure, massage, reflexology, “eye diagnosis”, thymus injections, and others. A patient visit may last a couple of hours, beginning with a hot bath in a claw-footed tub with a covering of all but the neck and head, followed by a massage with various oils.

The ear may be squeezed in areas to diagnose where disease may be located. The retina of the eye is examined using an expensive Leitz ophthalmoscope to look for areas of concern that would point out the location of diseases. Patients with cancer may be injected with extract of calf thymus gland fresh from the local slaughterhouse.

Interestingly, heilpraktikers do not have to take any particular course of study, but are required to pass a test covering several medical topics such as anatomy and physiology. Since homeopathy was founded by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the Haslachs considered Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia their “mecca”. We still stay in touch with Erika.

EPISODE 25

There I was, face to face with the famous pilot Bob Hoover, said to be the best “stick and rudder man” of all!

I had flown my Grumman Yankee into Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base for an air show featuring the Blue Angels, and I was actually parked close to their jets. I had walked up to the FBO, the airport office, and here came toward me Bob Hoover, dressed in his straw hat and tan-colored jump suit. I said, “Bob Hoover!” and since he didn’t recognize me he kept right on walking. He flew with Chuck Yeager in World War II.

If you have not seen it, you must look up the video of him flying the Shrike Commander, a twin-engined plane in which he pours a pitcher of tea into a cup while doing a complete 360 degree aileron roll without spilling a drop! He concludes by shutting off both engines, doing a complete upside down roll and then lands with the engines still off. At that show I also recall watching the Budweiser Microjet (a BD-5 J) and the Navy’s marvelous Blue Angels.

It was sad to hear later of that base’s closure. I had gone there twice for thorough physical exams for entry into the Air Force Academy, but my less than stellar algebra grades kept me out of that career path as I was interviewed by my congressman. The Richards-Gebaur site is now a multimodal location. (trains and trucks)