Band conditions haven’t been very peppy lately. I know we’re on the back side of twenty-five now, but this drop-off can’t be explained by that. We must surely have a couple of decent years of DX yet to enjoy before 10 & 12 meters turn back into ghost towns? My morning ritual of listening to the Treasure Coasters Net on 40 meters (7153) while sipping coffee and catching up online has been rough this week as I have been unable to hear most of the activity.

Lots of chores to be done this holiday weekend including mowing. I hate to start that practice before May 1st, but the grass is growing and the neighbors started mowing so now I’m caught in that trap. Since moving to an electric mower I no longer wonder if it will start each new season, but there are other considerations. I need to replace the old blade with a new one and I guess it’s time to start charging batteries on a weekly basis again. The plan is to get it cut today while the temperature is above 70F and the rain is coming tomorrow.

Plus I have a landscaper out this afternoon to mark up a section of the backyard for a new project that will get underway next week. You throw a long walk and a nap in with all that and I don’t know how I ever had time for a career?

We took a long ride in the country yesterday and wondered aloud if anyone besides us still enjoy that 1960’s era pastime? Given that dinner and a movie costs upwards of $150 these days, twenty dollars worth of gas is a cheap date! We just meandered through farmlands, listening to the radio with no particular destination in mind. The farmers are busy preparing the fields for the next harvest. You have to have a lot of confidence that it will work yet again to invest such sweat equity in that process. Farmer’s have to hope for enough rain and sunshine to make the magic happen. And they don’t get instant results. A good looking bean field in July could be hit by flooding or hail (or insects!) in August and wipe it all out.

The faith of farmers always amazes me.