I didn’t get out as early as usual this morning for my walk and when I finally did it was uncomfortably warm. Sweating and swatting gnats are pretty low on my list of fun things and suddenly I remembered why summer isn’t my favorite of all seasons.

We’re stuck in a stretch of dry weather right now with no rain having fallen in the last week and none is expected anytime soon.

I haven’t been on the air in a few weeks as most of my station is packed away now. The IC-705 remains readily accessible and I’ll be using it for my annual backyard Field Day operation in just 23 more days. Last year the goal was a hundred contacts and given the circumstances this year, I’d be pleased with a repeat performance. I’ll admit the event is more enjoyable with others, but I see Field Day as an exercise in preparedness. A portable setup using battery power in the backyard seems a better “test” to me than a big cookout with the club. I wish we could do both!

We have narrowed our search for a new home and with that has come waves of panic as I realize that not only will we be moving soon, but shortly after we will need to prepare not one but two houses for sale. Those thoughts have made for a lot of restless nights and I’m certain that’s not healthy. The last time I moved I was in my forties and now that I’m in my sixties it feels like a much bigger deal and I don’t recommend it.

Return to Cornbread Road

Somewhere back in my long ago I wrote a short story about about a secret society of hams in a little country town where all is not as it seems…

Cornbread Road was originally produced in audio format in 2011. Thirteen episodes of about ten minutes each released once each week between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox that year. I haven’t kept it online because of bandwidth limits and associated costs though I have brought it back for limited runs several times since its initial release. I plan to release the entire series again this summer using the original schedule. Episodes will begin reappearing here on the solstice (June 21) with one episode released each week until the equinox (September 23). It’s a progressive story intended to be told in sequence.

It was always my intention to follow up Cornbread Road with other, similar short stories in audio format, but my career went into overdrive about the same time and I simply never found the time. Having solved that problem, my interest in the production of other audio ham radio related stories has returned. Hopefully this re-release will be the beginning of additional new audio programs.

For those who have never heard Cornbread Road, here is the MP3 file for the first episode. I’m afraid I’m not the best voice actor, and this story is getting pretty long in the tooth, but it will give you a feel for the program and hopefully whet your appetite for the rest of the series beginning in a few weeks.