An unforgettable ham radio friend Mike WB4ZKA

I have been keeping a blog in Japanese for the past 19 years. When I started that blog, as a doctor starting own practice, I might feel separated from the society and have had a lot of problems with the administration or the medical system. That blog has been a place where I could utter whatever I thought or felt. 

Now, it has turned full of political propaganda. I have been trying to be as accurate as possible regarding the data or the information source, since I would review it as a data resource if not perfect. I am also trying to post on music or our daily lives as well.

Among those political posts, I still often mention of memorable QSOs or unforgettable ham friends there. In the genre of "People in Ham Radio", there have been more than 500 posts. I have repeatedly told about the same good old friends like Ellen W1YL and stories on them have been reiterated. Since I quit ham radio 2 years ago, not many more addition to it any longer. 

I just would describe a few old friends on the air. That is the purpose of the posts titled "An unforgettable ham radio friend". It is to renew my memories, which have been badly rusted these years. I still have a lot of friends to be written. It is only a private memoir but, secretly, I hope it serves to advocate the enjoyment of conversational CW to younger people.  

There are a few people whom I have met only a few times and they are not necessarily big guns or famous ham operators at all. They still left me a vivid and impressive memories despite of few occasions to talk to.

One of them is Mike WB4ZKA. I have met him only twice or three times. It was around 2010. He was living on a trailor house in Arizona. Putting up a windom several meters above the ground, he was running 4 watts with an Elecrat K1. He said he had been keeping the radio on throughout nights. He told he had prefered to set it on 7026KHz, where I and other gangs were hanging out late at night or early in morning there. There were guys who started ragchewing always across the Pacific Ocean. Lending ear to them, he might be falling asleep. Maybe, when the conditions were so good, he gave me a call. That was that few occasion we could converse. 

When I heard it from Mike, I was deeply impressed and felt we had been connected each other even if not conversing directly. Around that time, I heard from KA7YRL, that his motto was "Tell me your story". I thought Mike was the ham who lived that motto by himself. Ever since this episode, I have tried to do my best to live the same motto on the air, even though I am not sure if I could do that or not. John, WA9AQN, used to tell me Mike had been writing an essay on US CQ magazine and had mentioned this way of listening there.

On his page of QRZ.com, Mike wrote as follows;

IF YOU AND I ARE MEETING ON HF CW RIGHT NOW

I'd like to connect with you on more than a "drive-by" QSO level. I prefer to ragchew, but I can do an abbreviated contact, if you prefer.

I'm more interested in hearing about you than talking about myself. Where will we take the conversation?

Send any speed you like up to about 35 wpm.  I can head-copy just fine, but my old hands can't send so fast.  So, gallop along!  I enjoy it!

I wonder if he is still listening the band throughout a night somewhere in a desert of Arizona. Does CW still sound like a lullaby to him?