Page 30 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

distance. The lesson I learned was that ordinary electrical nature of the air can change
even away from a distant lightning strike. Another thing I learned was I could detect a
dial tone in my headphones when the antenna brushed against the telephone line. A few
months later I decided to extend my antenna to a higher level. I cut down several pine
saplings from the nearby woods and constructed a 30-foot tower.

In addition to radio, my interest in photography led me to obtain a Kodak Film
Developing Kit. Since I needed a dark room, I used a storage loft in the rear of my
garage. I used three trays to pass the film from the Developer to the Hypo solution,
which stopped the developing and finally to the Fixer tray. I couldn’t do much else
without an enlarger. Years later while serving in the Air Force, I had access to photo
developing facilities in the Hobby Shop at Elmendorf AFB in Alaska.
One of my Boy Scout requirements was to hike a few miles and camp out alone
overnight. On that night it began to rain. After I pitched my tent and settled in for the
night on my sleeping bag, water began to seep in under the side of the tent. Throughout
the night, I began to see tiny green spots of light on the ground surrounding my covers.
I feared that it was snakes that had crawled inside to escape the rain; however, I learned
later that it was merely phosphorus glowing in the soggy oak twigs. Several years later
I saw the same green phosphorus spots of light in the ocean waters that were churned
up by the transport ship that was carrying me from San Francisco to my Air Force
assignment in Alaska.

CHAPTER 06 - Before Television

This was the golden age of both radio and the movies. I used our old push mower and
cut lawns to earn money for my hobby of building model airplanes. I charged 25 cents
for a front yard and 50 cents for front and back. Several yards had tall thin weed heads
that the reel-type lawn mower would not cut. I had to swing a weed-cutter that had a
ratchet blade on the end of a 3-foot wooden pole. In the winter, I cut firewood and sold
it to some of our neighbors. I also delivered magazines that were dropped off at our
house. I delivered Collier’s, a weekly magazine and Saturday Evening Post which was
bi-weekly.

During the summer, my brother Richard and I would meet with playmates Henry
Reckstein, Paul Crisp, Nancy Horning, and a few others to play softball on a vacant
corner lot. Sometimes we played until it was too dark to see the ball. We met there for
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