The AM Forum

A mid-summer's daydream and everything's in bloom.

When winter comes again, we will yearn for these days.


T


(All pictures taken today, July 26, 2011.)

As the warm days go by....

...and great band cornditions finally snap us out of our stupors....  ;)

Is that a Cage antenna in the second post, third picture? Looks like it cut for 2 meters?

Great pic, is that now or awhile back?

JJ in pix no DSCF0030.JPG of the house did I see the fickle finger of "gate?"  (pointing and JFET,) um hmmm.   ;D

Your right about summer.  I love it too and usually sit outside in the afternoon after chores in the shade reading E Radio or the OTB bulleting, urk.  Boy did the humidity drop today; most delightful.

Speaking of humidity, notice that alarmist TV wx reporting, usually with agenda, loves humidity heat factor in summer and chill factor in winter?  Yes, "As the ratchet turns."

summer is my least favorite season.  sorry to be a wet blanket.   Give me winter any day over summer. 

if it weren't for antenna work and hamfests, summer would be completely pointless.

I can understand that in the south.

We usually have one or two very hot (by our standards) months, but every year is different.  After all the crippling snows last winter, summer seems almost nice.

So I plowed snow on the driveway all winter and rake, shovel and move driveway gravel all summer from the seemingly constant rains this year.   It does seem wetter than normal.  Oh, last summer was very cool and wet.

When I was a kid, we'd go for months without rain. Dad would hand us a cake of soap and sic us outside when it finally rained. We'd get in the ditches of a nearby, grassy field and wash up. No kidding.

 Our well was plumbed into the house's cold water piping and rain water was collected into a cistern for the hot.  So the well'd go dry if used too much and the cistern water (5000 gal. buried tank) would turn into a dead, leafy smelling mess as the summer wore on.

Rob,

Summer can be painfully hot and humid, no doubt.  It's easy to get sour on summer. I used to feel the same way until I took up canoeing and kayaking. Now the best memories of the year are of exploring strange and new places.  There's nothing like launching in a new place - a river, the shoreline, a new lake, etc.  There's usually water somewhere in every state to explore.

A brand new, inexpensive, plastic kayak can be had for about $100 - and  better quality can be found used for cheap too.  THAT is the key to enjoying summer for me. Pack a lunch (or stop by Subway) and head out. I use Google satellite view maps to locate and plan out each new "exploration."

Designing new sails, outriggers and other accessories and running "sea trials" is also part of the fun - almost like homebrewing, in a way. There's no need to own a yacht to have fun out there.


Terry, the previous pics were taken yesterday.

Rick, yes, it's a perfect cool day here too. The T-storms made short work of the humidity yesterday... ;D

T

Beautiful place Tom, Was that an old farm? It looks like the house is an older style well maintained, I might add ;D ;D ;D

Great pictures Tom!  A very nice home and property.  Looks peaceful !!
Joe, W3GMS     

Maybe a bug catcher?  I'm curious too.

T, what kind of camera do you have? It takes nice pictures.  Your flower gardens look great.

Those are homebrew bird feeders, Bob.  I use plastic trays for the top and bottom and Plexiglas for three sides. They are lashed together with drilled holes and #24 wire.  There's two hanging out there using rope and the birds love 'em... ;).

The camera is a five year old FugiFilm FinePix that cost maybe $300 back then. Just a standard digital camera. Yes, those first two flower pics came out quite good. The rest are nothing special. As they say, a photographer may get one excellent shot out of thirty or so...

Terry, this is an old farmhouse built in about 1910 that originally had 94 acres. Ninety acres were donated to a landtrust leaving four acres. The house is surrounded by thousands of acres of landtrust and state forest land.  The house has its minor problems, just like many older houses.

T

Tom,

Great pics of Yaz in the sailboat.

The one thing I'm not real clear on, is how did you teach Yaz to sail a boat by himself??

Fred

Maybe your winter is like our summer??  Winter around here is 10 degrees below zero days (not many, but some) with average temps well below freezing.  Lots of snow and ICE! Summer here is gentle and warm except for the severe thunderstorms that come through once in a while.  

The ONLY good thing about the winter is that it kills off all of the bad stuff (like the alligators, scorpions, fire ants, etc.) you guys in the South have to deal with.  And that's pretty important at least to me, who spends a lot of time outside hiking, and whatever.

The main problem here, is winter is almost 1/2 the year, and that's quite a bit.

Sherrie's mother lives in Georgia.  She comes up here and spends several weeks with us, during the hot Georgia summer, and a couple of weeks with each of the other daughters, who all live either in New York state (upstate) or in Massachusetts.

We go here in the summer - Rattlesnake Island (the rattlesnakes are gone as of 1947 or thereabouts).  Rob, if it gets too hot where you are, c'mon up to the island sometime and have an eyeball QSO, swim (the water is crystal clear), take the kayak or sailboat out and enjoy !!  We've had some gatherings of the local N.E. hams over on the island, but no imports from the hotter climates yet  :D

(http://www.rattlesnakeisland.net/album/lake011.jpg)

Steve QIX, I was about to report you to a moderator, you look like your having too much fun! You know there are people on here who can't stand that sort of thing ;) ;)

Yep, looks like he IS having too much fun, Terry... ;D

Got any pics of your sailboat and kayaking activities to post, Steve?


T

I'm in N. Illinois.   I don't like yard work  I'd rather clear snow off the driveway than do yardwork. 

Summer --->  bugs, west nile virus, ozone action alerts, tornadoes, birds pooping on your car, humidity, lightning, yard work, sweat, grime.

Winter --->  bugs are dead, birds flown south, lower QRN, wx outside cool crisp and dry.  I can leave antennas hooked up and everything plugged in (mostly).  it gets inconvenient when it gets down to minus 20 or lower, and I'm not wild about lots of snow every other day but once we get through Nov. and Dec.things settle down for a while, but not long enough.   By early to mid-March the advantages of winter are quickly disappearing. 

I agree with Tom--the secret to enjoying a season is to develop activities that exploit its offerings.  I should get a kayak and go out on the river that flows by my house.

Lots of folks around here dread winter and the reason is they have no activities like low band ham radio that allow one to look forward to and enjoy winter.

maybe they don't have the brains to become a ham but just about anyone can make beer! why not engage them in beer making and then you all can swap story's on the last batch and the women with the nice legs etc??

Hi Tom,

I probably have some pics somewhere.... Certainly do a lot of sailing here, but usually Sherrie is with me, so there's no one to take the picture.  I have a couple of Sherrie at the lake, but not in the sailboat or kayak - just swimming, etc.

Like Tom says, enjoy each season as it comes.  I agree Rob, the low static level and long distance 75 meter propagation is always fun.  The snow plowing and ice storms - well, that's another story, but without the cold we'd have some pretty bad stuff up here in N.E.  The cold kills most of it off.

We have 2 seasons in Ohio.
Huntin' and No huntin'!

It depends if you is huntin 2-legged deer or 4-legged deer  ;D  ;D

It ain't just deer, Slab.

Squirrels, rabbits, peasants, turkey, grouse.......

Hunting grouse, hell you don't have to look too far, there are quite a few here  ;D ;D

But hunting peasants sounds like fun  ;D  ;D

At this QTH Summer is motorcycle and hamfest season.   :D

Fall is gas engine season!  :D

Winter is ham radio and couch potato season.    ;D

Spring is grass cutting season  :o  :P   

                      " Squirrels, rabbits, peasants, turkey, grouse.......  "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=493jZunIooI


klc

 We have two "Motorcycle seasons here, just North of Canada . The hot and sultry "Summer season" and the absolutely wonderful "Winter season" Wouldn't miss either one !

(http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/44014/1227092575032728487S500x500Q85.jpg) (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/1227092575032728487edtkEP)

You're not alone. Summer is no bargain.  Instead of spending money on heating I end up spending it on electricity for cooling. And in between air conditioned spaces there is dripping sweat. Yesterday was brutal. After only a few minutes in the heat and very high humidity I was drenched from head to toe. Winter is cold but I can't say it makes me anywhere near as uncomfortable as summer. Seems easier to find ways to warm up than to cool down.

Well I have to admit I might like summer more if I lived up in New England where everyone uses the very costly heating oil.  I'm in natural gas country where heat is relatively inexpensive compared to A/C electricity (for now).   I tell people I can always put on more layers in winter but in summer I can't peel off anything if everything has been peeled off and I'm still hot.

That's interesting.  The natural gas in this area is expensive - sometimes more expensive than oil, but always seems to track "per BTU".  Have you considered gas air conditioning?

Yikes! I can't imagine experiencing that sort of heat. How do our soldiers over there survive that?
--------------------------

Iraq declares first-ever heat holiday, closes government offices

Sunday, July 31, 10:30 PM

BAGHDAD — It was so hot in Iraq on Monday that the country declared its first-ever “heat day.”

Iraq’s central government shuttered its offices and sent public-sector workers home across most of the country as temperatures surpassed 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here in Northeast Pennsylvania, we have four seasons: Almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction!

Hi Phil,

Isn't that Maine?  2 seasons:  Winter and Construction  8)  I've also heard that about parts of Canada:  Winter and August.

Winters are hard here on the New Hampshire border in central Mass... but we do have some nice summers..... and the extreme winter cold kills off the bad stuff they have in the South.

Summer has been hot here in Spartanburg but just 35 miles north in the foothills it is cooler. There are a couple of nice place to have dinner about 45 minutes away that you can sit outside and be comfortable in the evening when its 98 in Spartanburg.

I have a place at Edisto Beach and it is miserable hot in July and August, but nice in most other months. Bottom fishing out about 30 nm miles in January can be shirtsleeves some days and about two or three freezes a winter.

Autumn and Spring are great at both houses. I usually can find something fun to do most every month of the year. Love to troll offshore about 65nm out in the spring and trawl shrimp and inshore fish in the fall.

Summer is absolutely the best time of the year.

I look forward to seeing Sunset creep up to 8:47pm, and get sad when it starts retreating.

SO, we try to make the most of it out on the boat, making landfall wherever the anchor holds.