The Summer that time stood still--Part 2 - But let's do a reunion anyway
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Dealing with the surprise
She said that she would lend me her credit card to catch a flight out there. I said I would drive in any case, and now it seems that there will be a little extra time.
So we made arrangements to meet. I would pick her up in Great Falls on her flight from Atlanta. We only had committments from my sister Leslie B and Robbie, and we would try to see what we could do in the way of catching up to the cousins, one small gathering at a time.
Counties
I packed up the Suburban. Yes, I know it inhales gas at a ferocious rate, but not much can match it for putting up a 54 inch antanna mast with antenna elements sticking even higher. The radios were working fine, and I mounted the Morse code key on the tiny flip-out table that is hinged to the console.
On long car trips, the radio can be a fun way to pass the time, and often the hams will "ride along" with you. But there is also a bit of sport involved. In one of the many sub-hobbies that is ham radio is "County Hunting". The idea is to talk to hams in as many US counties as possible. Since there are over 3000 of these, this can be a nice pastime for the retired.
But it can be fun to be the ham that is in all those far-away and rare counties. Everyone wants to talk to you. And Morse code is the most fun of all, no?
Doing Something Else While Driving
Now the more conscientious of you are beginning to think How is a person supposed to Drive and do Morse code at the Same Time? Well, driving was essential growing up on the farm. Dad would always figure out how to smoke his pipe, no matter what he was driving. And some of that machinery was pretty tricky to drive.
But Doing Something Else While Driving extends at least as far back as my Grandpa Hostetter, who in his younger days was a cigarette smoker. This was when you would roll your own. You know, start with the little bag of Bull Durham and the cigarette papers. Well, the story goes that he did this while riding a horse herding cattle. Which pretty much means one-handed.
So my excuse is that there is a precedent to driving and doing Morse code and writing down the information all at once. Besides, this happens mostly on the open highway, not in crowded city traffic. Not to worry.