A nest to come back

They say the higher bands are quite hot with the sun spot number rising record high in this cycle. I still love, however, 40m in our evening. This band will gradually open to the North America before sunset here. It might open to Eu and Africa through long path at the same time. I started radio on this band at this time in a day. It was the band of wonder those days. At present, it is still the band where I could nestle myself on.

This evening, 40m sounded very quiet. I had a couple of pleasant QSOs. One was with Steve K4VK in Florida. His barefoot with a dipole was not loud at all but was still quite readable on the quiet background. He is 93 years old and used to be in Yokosuka in 1950 when he served for the Navy there. We could not converse much about his good old days so much. But I still felt, through his keying!, he had had a good memory in Yokosuka those days. He sounded excited at the key. The keying itself often expresses what the sender feels. Those who won't operate CW would never appreciate that at all, I guess.

The other guy was Don N7EF in Washington. He always watchs the band and gives me a call when no one calls me for my CQ. He said he had been just watching great ragchews going on the band. He kindly asked me about my cataract problem, which he had known through watching my QSO with another guy. He said his wife had had a surgery for her cataract, which came out to be a success. Even though, as he said, the ophthalmologist was pretty old just before retirement, he did it perfectly for her. I answered to him, with hearty thanks for his concern about my problem, that medical services should be conservative. Progressive methods could be sometimes experimental. I would have a surgery in a conservative way within a year or so. He also mentioned that the drivers' licence renewal is pretty strict especially for the seniors over there. He was nervous at it but could renew it uneventfully. I always enjoy talking to him since he is always a real critic to the ham radio or people on the radio.

I have been blessed with many friends on 40m in this way. Unfortunately, most of them have gone inactive or silent keyed by now. But, I know, there are still a number of old guys with whom I could share the same kind of interest or of concern. Even though I sometimes feel disappointed at it, I would go on operating radio. Yes, on 40m around our sunset. It is my nest to come back.