Of lorikeets, dx20s, imacs and banksia, Daphne and Dom

Nope, I didn't take those pictures and no these birds can't be found around here, except maybe in pet stores. But apparently they're rather common in Sydney, Australia where my friends Dom and Daphne live. Daphne took these pictures near their home near the famous Bondi Beach one recent morning.

Arriving in my email, the images sent me scurrying about the Web to learn more. (I love these little tidbits of life in another world.) Turns out Lorikeets are frequently kept as pets, though Daphne's photos are of wild birds. As pets they apparently have a sense of humor, sometimes playing dead by sleeping on their backs, feet in the air, until their owners screams of despair awakens them. I liked this summary:

"Addictive" - that's what they are - as well as curious, cheeky, playful and absolute idiots with the antics they get up to. And once they've got under your skin you can guarantee that the number of aviaries and pairs you have just seem to grow like topsy.

That's from an article by Jude Vaughan which can be found here.

Australia always has fascinated me and I appreciate the opportunity for virtual travel to a world where so much is different - summer is winter, the night sky is dominated by the Southern Cross and Magellanic Cloud - things I've never seen. I had a literature professor in college who stopped in Virginia to teach one year, interrupting his goal of going to Australia, a country he insisted was then, as America was 100 years before. "They even have a fellow down there who is writing like Melville," he said. That spelled opportunity to him big time, and he couldn't wait to get on with his journey.

Australia - America, 1862, not 1962 - I couldn't imagine it - and it may well have been just his fantasy. But there is so much that is different - so many different birds, trees and animals. Not to mention people. When I was a teenager the best way for virtual travel seemed to me to be amateur radio. I dreamed then of getting to know people all over the world through the little Heath Kit DX-20 sitting on my desk. But it never quite worked out that way. I had a 50-watt transmitter and communicated entirely by Morse code. One morning I did contact Australia - but I know the person only by his call letters, VK3XB. I remember those call letters after all these years, not because I got to know the person so well - nothing of the sort - but because I tried over and over again, day after day, at a specific time to make contact without success. I must have tapped out those letters a thousand times - ..._ _._ ...__ _.._ _... - well, that's how I remember the code.

Finally, another amateur in Texas brought us together. The Texas amateur had a strong signal, easy for me to hear, so he went and sat on top of the VK3XB signal. I tuned in the guy from Texas, then he shut up and I listened carefully and there was VK3XB, tapping out my call letters - KN1MKR. I was thrilled. We exchanged locations and signal reports and eventually (at least a month later) post cards confirming the communications. And that was it.

Still, I treasured that contact with a real person in the world down under. But what difference it is from the contact I have with Daphne and Dom! Daphne, a teacher, took a course in Web development from me online, then when she and Dom were visiting the United States they stopped by at UMass Dartmouth for the better part of a day. Now Dom and I correspond almost daily, having several common interests (spiritual matters, world politics, nature, photography,literature and laughing), with Daphne chipping in from time to time. I value our friendship deeply. there is no comparison between our correspondence and those few, barely audible dits and dahs I heard from VK3XB some 45 years ago!

Of course, some "hams" made - and still do make - far more meaningful contact with people around the world - but to do so in 1960 took much more pricey equipment then I could afford, plus more knowledge, and more patience. Even then, it was nothing in comparison to the way we shoot words and pictures back and forth to one another today with complete ease and with little technical skill needed. I found a lot of my ham radio communications - even when the signals were loud and clear and in voice - fell flat in terms of human exchange. I developed no lasting friends this way. Indeed, all VK3XB was interested in was "working" - making a confirmed contact with - one amateur station in each of the American states. Those kinds of challenges were very popular then with awards being offered and even contests being held on a regular basis where contacts were as quick - and in human terms, as meaningless - as you could possibly make them.

I guess the point of all this is a far cry from Daphne's Lorikeets, but for me what it shows is the often ignored human side of technological development. Global village, anyone?

Oh - and if you're wondering what a Banksia tree is, I learned it's commonly called "Old Man Banksia." Take a look here.

Posted by Greg Stone at June 12, 2003 05:47 AM