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Today was almost Indian summer. I hiked on Shute Hill and sat in the sun under a canopy of gold. I worked a dozen German stations in the Worked All Germany Contest.

I hiked up the Rufus Colby road and turned right into the woods. Not far ahead lay two small fields. It was grand to be in shirt sleeves at the edge of the field. I brought the ATS-4 and set up a half wave  wire for 15 meters in an oak tree. Bright orange, yellow and gold accentuated the deep blue sky.

In barely six minutes, I worked six German stations with my 3 watts and 22 foot wire. I tuned the wire with an Elecraft T-1. Then I extended the wire to 33 feet and set the ATS-4 for 20 meters.

In the next ten minutes I worked 3 more German stations and a Dutch special event station celebrating 75 years of Boy Scouting. All the QSOs
were quick contest exchanges. Here’s my log:

20 Oct-12 1843  21.018 DL5NDX  CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1844  21.019 DJ9DZ     CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1846  21.024 DK4WF   CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1847  21.028 DK5DQ   CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1848  21.030 DL0UM   CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1849  21.032 DL5JS     CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1900  14.016 DL3GA    CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1903  14.019 DJ9DZ     CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1904  14.020 PH75S/J CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1905  14.022 DL8QS     CW 599 599
20 Oct-12 1910  14.042 DL0UM   CW 599 599

I packed up and headed back through the 20 acre field at the top of Shute Hill. The field is surrounded by a wall of color. The air is so fragrant and warm, I wonder why Mother Nature didn’t make Fall last at least another month or so.