Dad turned part of our dinning room into a communications center-with radio equipment that went from the left wall to the right--a good 8/10 feet of black boxes and dials and meters and lights--and when he had that in place he strung an antenna from our house roof to the end of the yard in a tree--a good 300 feet which he called a linear antenna---We had a Ham radio set up-par excellance--and on wed. night he got on what he called the net--not the internet--which wasn't around then--the radio communication net where Ham radio operators checked in from around the world--or sort of a standbye emergency communications--alliance to handal or monitor crisis in the world and get info out to the necessary parties to inform or help.
I think the radios dad used were part of the equipment used by his Civil Air Patrol unit of which he was Wing Commander.
It was very interesting to hear the communications from around the world and dad was very diligent in checking in at his appointed time--he also kept log books of his contacts and their code numbers.---Codger p.s this all went on in the early 1950's in Edgewater Maryland.

In 1955 life was good on Wharehouse Cove in South River Park--and me and my friends were like river rats--we hung out on the water a lot.
Dad didn't let me use his motor,only the boat with oars--so it was very welcomed news when my friends father bought a 5 h.p motor and said we could use it--the only problem was his older brother Jim always beat us home and took the motor to use himself---He thought it was really funny to and rubbed it in every chance he got.
This went on for a week and it wasn't fair,we hadn't even gotten to try that beauty and could only imagine the fun of motor driven aquatic mobility and not having to row everywhere we went.
Friday rolled around and John and I raced home from school as fast as we could,brother Jim must have been slightly held up--is all I can think--because we arrived at Johns house first.
We weren't strong enough to carry the outboard down the hill to the water so we got the wheel borrow and loaded it in that and took off down the hill,heard shouting--and here came the older brother,we had a lead that was closing fast-we got to the water,I carried the motor to the back and turned the tightening handal twice while John pushed the boat out as Jim his older brother arrived at the waters edge and waded out to grab the boat--I pulled the start cord once and that baby fired up-into reverse and we avoided the older brothers clutches barely---as he shouted and waved his fist--we cheered and gunned the motor--we were free--we had won--we were mobile and headed for the South River. We made it to the curve in the cove and the motor made a loud whineing sound-literaly jumped straight up in the air right off the transome and sank to the bottom.We later learned the depth was 40 feet.
Oh brother we were in trouble,a brand new motor deep sixed to the bottom and we figured we wouldn't see our allowance or have any free time for the rest of our lives.
My dad and Johns father arrived home from work and were fairly ticked off but not as bad as we thought they would be,maybe they remembered their own boyhoods.They had us show them exactly where the motor went down.The two fathers took turns free diving in the semi clear cove and found the motor and hauled it to the surface.It had to be disassembled and cleaned but ran just fine afterward-but I don't remember ever using it again.
I'm pretty careful these days -making sure I tighten things properly and think about the incident quite often.It was a coup to beat Johns brother that day and a couple more twist on the tightening bolts and we would have been home free. Eric the Codger

That was my school and it was a good one--so good in fact I looked forward to going there--why?-The teachers--that's why--they made learning so interesting--and the subject matter was great--they were an extension of my family as I saw it---it wasn't just the reading writing and arithmetic--which they did a great job of teaching--it was how they stimulated our interest in reading and observing life"s interesting facts--
It started snowing one day-and we were all excited by it cause snow to a kid meant fun--the teacher went off into a lesson about the snow--how it was formed-that snowflakes like finger prints were different and crystal patterns--and we did some of that Japanese oragomy stuff--cutting out snowflakes.The school also taught a lot of Maryland state history--I remember a lot of it to this day.
I understand the school is catching a lot of criticisem these days and people are putting their kids in private schools-quite often. That's a shame to hear--it must have something to do with all the rules teachers have to follow--
I just don't know---we had a rule change from the govt. when I was going--we always recited the pledge aligence to the flag--we had to stop saying the words under God --which everyone thought was terrible.
We did those duck and cover drills back then--in case of a nuclear attack--Well I appreciate that school--they did a lot for me and it was all positive--- The Codger

How about a memory of the best sub sandwich I have ever had in my life.

They always start like this--there was this place!

In Annapolis there was a sub shop--it was right beside the inner city harbor--I retain no memory of its name just the fact that it was the best hot sub I have ever had--and it was a treat every time we went there--I can't even tell you what kind of sub it was--the bread was fresh and probably homemade--there were little bits of onion-incredible seasoning--maybe they were cheesesteak--I just don't remember--but I would love to tell the owners that their sub was so good I remembered them over 50 years later. The Codger

We had a clubhouse in South River Park--for the community,it's still there today --it was located in a field directly behind our house.
It was big,had hardwood floors and all around the outside perimeter were tables and chairs for dinners and parties and a dance floor or more space for functions right in the middle.The dinners were awesome but the Halloween party was the most fun cause everyone came in costume and they gave out prizes--for many different categories.
The clubhouse was like a country decor--it wasn't some fancy building but it had so much warmpth and the special get togethers there meant so much to everyone--for some reason I really remember learning to square dance--there was caller that really had flair--and to tell you the truth,it was a lot of fun.
The community had some renown people living there--most everyone remembers the Good Humor ice cream bar--the founder had a home there, and the Briggs meat company owner and a number of others that escape me now-
A group of us played baseball in the field by the clubhouse, we used pieces of cardboard for bases,but they were always sliding or blowing away then we tried rocks and other free stuff. One day an elderly man gave us a whole set of bases--he had seen us playing often --what a nice old guy--he must have loved baseball like we did.We took care of the bases like they were the holly grail--a treasure given us.I have never forgotten that kind mans generosity--and have tried to emmulate his kindness in my life. more at another time---The Codger