I almost can’t believe our good fortune with the weather. This morning is yet another one with blue skies and low temperatures. 55F when I awoke so of course I opened the house up which had the wife running to grab a sweater. We can’t seem to agree on the perfect temperature, but this recent spate of unseasonably cool air makes me happy. I know, it’s a short-lived pleasure and the brutal heat must surely be just around the corner.

I’ve gotten in the habit of calling CQ using CW at least three times a day just to see what that might generate. Not much. There is activity, but I don’t think most hams scan the bands in search of CQs much anymore. I kick up a little activity now and then, but not enough to write about it. Random CQing has always been a fairly risky endeavor. It takes two to tango and finding someone else on the same frequency, at the same time, with propagation smiling between the two, well, let’s just say it’s amazing we ever work anyone that way.

The shack is due for a serious cleaning. I’ve mentioned before when we moved to this location a few years ago I claimed the “sunroom” and made it my radio paradise. It’s small-ish, but large enough for my purposes. It has seven windows overlooking the backyard (plus an external door) and in decent weather I like to open as many of them as possible which gets a nice breeze moving through here. That brings dust with it as I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time dusting during the warmer months. Just a spring clean for the May queen :-).

Having mentioned previously that my favorite pipe tobacco is Blood Red Moon by Cult I endured a recent scare when it was backordered from my usual tobacconist. A look around online revealed it was sold out everywhere and being down to my last few tins I was starting to panic. Then I got a note from a random pipe shoppe in Pennsylvania letting me know they had a small supply so I took it all. Now that I’m fully restocked, I should be good until somewhere deep in Autumn and hopefully whatever supply tensions are in play will have subsided by then.

I enjoy the pipe because it forces me to slow down and savor more moments. The ritual acts of preparing the briar, loading it, the charring first light followed by the true light and subsequent puffing is incredibly relaxing. I enjoy tea for the same reason. There is ritual to heating the water and brewing the tea, one cup at a time that forces me into a more leisurely state before enjoying the tea.

So here I sit, puffing the pipe, sipping tea, enjoying another cool morning breeze in the shack, all while listening to atmospherics on the 20 meter band. It’s a fine morning for radio, retirement, and life.