Pilgrimmage to Hamdom's Mecca

Two days ago we were sweltering in 85 degrees in a summer that has seemed truly never ending. Today we are enjoying the sounds of a howling wind outside and temperatures in the 50s in Rockport, Mass. To make that transition, we spent 12 hours yesterday driving through heavy rain all up the East Coast as we clocked more than 600 miles to add to the almost 300 from the day before (not counting a 200-mile detour to attend a funeral). It was not much fun pushing on in the dark to make our way around New York City on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Freeway. Doing it at rush hour didn't help any either. When we finally hit the sack last night in Cromwell, Connecticut, we were fully tired and ready for rest. Then we got up this morning early to make our way over to W1AW, the headquarters station for the American Radio Relay League, the U.S. amateur radio group. I toured the ARRL headquarters and found talking with the people who edit and produce the league magazine (QST) and many publications very interesting. There were geeks aplenty and it was great to meet and chat with them. Then came the icing on the cake, a chance to sit at the controls and operate W1AW, the home station for the ARRL. The equipment and antennas at W1AW are a ham's dream come true and I had great fun making a contact with an English ham who was operating in his car in Southport. We chatted for a while and then it was all over, another item on my "bucket list" neatly checked off!

Deja vu, all over again

I occasionally despair at what American politics has become, especially all the current fawning over and kowtowing to the tea party movement. According to U.S. media, they can do no wrong and they will eventually wipe all the Establishment away and will provide us with an era of Prosperity and Happiness to last at least as long as that of the Third Reich (wasn't it supposed to last a thousand years?). I used the Nazi analogy since the tea partiers tend to liken President Obama to Adolf Hitler so I thought turnabout was fair play. The only real consolation I have now is that "this too shall pass." The tea party is only the latest in a long line of such movements. I am currently reading a biography of Robert A. Heinlein, a popular science fiction writer who was required reading for boys in my teenage years. We were all caught up in the Space Race after the great Sputnik debacle and probably all thought we would some day be living on the moon. What most of us didn't know at the time was that Heinlein had a previous life of activity in liberal Democratic politics in California. He eventually moved over to the Libertarian side, but when he was a California Democrat, he had to continually fight against various leftwing movements (socialist, communist, etc.) that were attempting to take over that party just as the tea partiers are attempting to take over the Republican Party today. But the politics of the era was very reminiscent of today. A Democratic president was attempting by any means necessary to pull the country out of a Depression and was being branded a socialist, communist, etc., by those powerful interests who didn't like the direction the country was going. The party in power saw its approval ratings go down, down, down. The GOP was preaching "trickle down" economics. Lies and slander were abundant in the political talk of the day and the Republicans did everything they could to try to keep Democratic voters from being able to vote by challenging their qualifications at the polls. It all sounds vaguely familiar.

An Apology to Summer

Back on August 24, I foolishly wrote that summer was on the wane. Summer, it seems, read my words and was not happy at being shoved aside so easily. Although the remainder of that particular week saw only one more day in the 90 and above category, September has been almost as warm and toasty as August, with 14 of the first 19 days reaching 90 degrees or above. A couple of those days that didn't make 90 just barely missed it, by only a degree. So here we are, two days from the beginning of autumn and the temperature today will be 95. Sorry for dismissing you so quickly, Summer. Honestly, it was nothing personal. But really, isn't it about time you left the stage? Autumn is in the wings, awaiting your departure. Please, don't make a scene. Just go. Please.

A Long, Hot Summer

Summer's heat is finally waning and that's a good thing. It has been a long, hot summer here, air-conditioning notwithstanding. A check of climatological data a week or so ago showed that by mid-August we had recorded three weeks more of 90-degree temperatures than we did last summer (which was closer to "normal"). And we had more successive runs of day-after-day of 90-plus temps. But the days are getting shorter and the heat is not building up to those oppressive mid-90 levels one after the other. The nighttime temperatures are dropping into the 60s (rather than 70s) and the humidity is falling as well. You can actually go outdoors in the morning and evenings and not feel like you are wrapped in a warm, wet blanket. And, as we approach September (and autumn), the outlook is for the 90-degree days to fade, fade away. All of this is what is normally expected this time of the year. The seasonal calendar moves forward predictably each year with minor variations, give or take a week or two. But some years you look forward to the change more so than others. This is one of those. The cooler days of fall will be greatly appreciated when they settle in.

My Cup Runneth Over

We're down to four teams remaining in the World Cup. My first choice to win, the U.S., got knocked out early. Then I hitched my wagon to Argentina's star, but they just fell ingloriously to Germany. So which team should I jinx now? I have a feeling Spain and Germany are the favorites at this point, so I will go with an underdog: the Netherlands. Why? Maybe I like orange jerseys. Sorry, but the Germans dressed in black remind me too much of World War II stormtroopers. Or maybe, there would be a certain irony in the Dutch winning the World Cup in South Africa.

Otherwise, my thoughts at this point on the officiating and rules. At minimum, there needs to be another official on the pitch. One official just can't keep up with everything that happens on such a large field. Even better, allow for some form of instant replay capability on calls within the box or involving a possible goal. As for rules changes, consider allowing the referee to award a goal when the defenders blatantly use their hands to stop the ball from entering the net at the mouth of the goal. I'm fine with a penalty kick for a handball within the box, but the blatant actions of the Uruguay players to stop the ball from entering the goal in the game with Ghana wound up rewarding them for their actions when the Ghana player missed the penalty kick and the game went into overtime. In basketball, such a blatant foul is called "goaltending" and the referee awards the basket to the shooting team.

On the Road: Taliesin

I have been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture since I discovered him as a college student. For years I carried around a copy of The Living City, his futuristic look at what cities could someday resemble. But mostly I was a fan of his plain and simple forms and the idea that a building should be part of its surroundings, not overwhelming them. And the idea of inside spaces and outside spaces converging. He was very much influenced by Japanese ideas of the harmony of all things natural. So it was natural that a trip to the Upper Midwest would include a visit to Taliesin, his home near Spring Green, Wisconsin. First of all, the home is in a beautiful setting, especially in summer. The surroundings are rolling hills, a beautiful valley river, and gorgeous countryside. A double-wide trailer would look good here and have beautiful views from any window. But Taliesin is lovely, though as our guide told us, in need of much restoration work just to keep it from falling down. Wright spared no expense when spending his clients' money, but was cheaper and more willing to cut corners with his own. But it was nice to be able to sit in the great room at Taliesin and look out at the beautiful landscape and feel perfectly at home, at ease.

On the Road: Minnesota

We're in the "land of sky-blue waters," Minnesota. We are spending the night at the Kettle Falls Hotel, which could be reached only by boat or air. We rode over in a boat captained by the hotel's owner. It's very isolated here (though we have Internet access!) and we have just spent a pleasant hour or so sitting on the screen porch chatting with fishermen who come up here on fishing trips every year. They are a very convivial group. Now we are heading for dinner and then perhaps we will go out for a little canoeing or boating. It stays light very late here and gets light very early!