First snow flakes

 

Sunshine School house, 2007, 107 years old.

Milo and I started down the driveway a little late this morning.  It was very cool and crisp, the sky was a very bright blue without a cloud to be seen.  We missed seeing Bob, the school bus driver, and waving to all of the Sunshine kids on the bus.  We stopped at the Sunshine School house and raised the American flag.  Today we raised the flag to honor one of our neighbors who recently passed away.  Long time neighbor Bebe left this world on Saturday.  She had lived in Sunshine a long time before she and her husband, Bob, moved to Moab, Utah.  We spent time with them at our SCSSYYSR (Sunshine Canyon Summer Solstice YaYa Sisterhood Reunion) in June.  Bebe was very active and will be missed by all of her family and friends.

We experienced our first snow fall yesterday.  It wasn't much, just a few flakes but a reminder that it won't be long........  Oh I just can't wait!  LOL

Milo noticed that I had dug out my HAM radio (Portable) and was wearing it on my belt this morning.  He pushed his nose up under the bottom as if to ask me "what's up with that?"  I explainedthat I wanted to keep it close, just in case any bears wanted to bother us.  I have been an amateur radio operator for 15 years.  HAM operators have the ability to communicate with other HAM operators anywhere in the world.  Shortly after receiving my license I was involved in a conversation that was "out of this world".

One of the high schools in Fort Collins, Colorado has a program in the study of space travel.  They even have a mock space shuttle set up in the classroom.  NASA has a public relations program called SAREX, allowing the astronauts to communicate with HAM operators on the ground (little know fact  - most of the astronauts have a HAM license).  Our amateur radio club, working with the high school, contacted NASA and arranged a private contact with the shuttle.

NASA agreed, a time and frequency were agreed upon and we went to work.  A HAM station was set up at the high school, including a transceiver, antenna with a rotor and recording equipment.  The idea was to to be able to point the radio station antenna at the shuttle while it passed from horizon to the other.  The maximum window is 8 minutes. 

As the appointed day drew closer, we became more excited.  Club members were assigned different tasks (mine was to record the entire event).  On contact day the entire club joined the students.  At the agreed time we started to call the shuttle.."W5NAS, this is WK3S......W5NAS, this is WK3S" (call signs have been changed for this post)...we repeated this three times.  With anticipation, we heard what we were listing for...."WK3S, this is W5NAS".  It was the voice of Dr. Marty Fettman, astronaut and veterinarian (from Colorado State University) aboard the space shuttle Columbia, mission STS-58.  We passed the microphone around, allowing the students to talk while we held the contact.  We held the contact the entire 8 minutes and then it was over.

Three months later, the high school held an assembly.  The guest was Dr. Fettman.  For me, the fun part came just before the assembly began.  Dr. Fettman met with those of us who participated.  He gave each of us an autographed photo, a mission patch and a hearty "thank you" for making the entire event a success.