Yesterday was January 6th, the first Saturday in 2024. What is the significance, you might ask? Well it was the beginning of the week-long PA Farm Show held in Harrisburg PA. Local legend would have it that the Farm Show is a harbinger of bad weather (go figure, it is held in January) and this year it has held up to that reputation. Late morning yesterday it began to snow. A nice, pretty wet snow. Within a couple hours we had around 76.2 MM of accumulation on the ground ( ~ 3 inches for those who use the outdated measuring system) and then the temperature started to rise slightly above freezing. It remained that way overnight. This morning I spent over an hour with my snowblower clearing my driveway. My wyfe and I then went out to lunch and got a few groceries. When we got back i settled in with a cup of coffee and started trying to work some POTA stations. I began to wonder why I was getting lousy signal reports when I looked out the window. A couple of tree branches had succumbed to the weight of the wet snow and fell, taking down my dipole and breaking the rope which ran through the pulley on the tower which held the center support up. My long-suffering wyfe agreed to leave the warm comfort of the house and assist me in getting the antenna back up in the air. It took some doing. My antenna is now in a different position than it was, is lower and the setup is temporary. Once the weather gets a bit better I am going to make the installation more permanent. At least I am back on the air and making contacts. I, however, did run out of expletives which is highly unusual as I studied under a master, my father. As for blame, I place that squarely in the lap of the PA Farm Show. Namaste Kiddos.

