Re: RC: Re: Bedouins

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@naisp.net>]

Roger Rittenhouse" <roger@vmaxept.com> said:

>  AND THEN ALONG CAME OIL
>  and messed it all up
> 
>  It was 'fun' to visit there  but I sure would not want to live there
>  ..unless they paid me big bucks .
>  roger

I don't begrudge them their day in the sun (not implying that you
do!).  Really, reading these and other 19th century descriptions,
there isn't *anything* there in the way of something to base
a modern economy on.  Maybe deposits have been discovered
since these were written, but according to these sources, other
than oil, the region is strangely devoid of even mineral resources.
Perhaps something could have been made of the Persian Gulf itself
(other than natural pearls)--I am given to understand that it is a sea
of extraordinary beauty and fecundity.  Imagine living there--blue
sky, azure sea, white buildings, grey sand--as century after century
slowly rolls by and the rest of the world leaves you behind...

It's just surreal.  There's this fun sport called endurance, Tevis,
Wendell Robie, cowboys, old west, Old Dominion, vet checks,
small but dedicated and educated amateur participants, sage brush,
BBQ's and ridecamps--and then suddenly this TRILLION pound
gorilla from the Persian Gulf shows up with entirely its own agenda.
Surreal.

Linda B. Merims
lbm@naisp.net
Massachusetts, USA