Cookies for Hams

I've been doing tower work for others since I was a teenager. At first for my friends, then for their friends and, well, on it went. I enjoyed the gratification of putting a smile on another ham's face. Besides, I came to love working on towers and since I had just one to play with, helping others with theirs brought me joy.

It has also become a way for me to pay it back -- to give back to a hobby that has given me so much.

Tower work never tempted me as a career. Not only did my interests lie elsewhere, having grown up with little I worried about potential income. As I learned from talking to professional tower riggers, for most of them it's barely a step up from ordinary construction work. The pay isn't that great. Only a minority do well.

I don't do tower work for money. Countless hams have tried to pay me and I have always refused. Some have literally tried to shove a handful of bills into my hand, and were surprised, and occasionally annoyed, when my fingers fail to grasp the money. In a few cases I relented in order to avoid giving offense. I have had others offer me items from their shack such as electronic parts, boxes of floppy disks (remember those?) or whatever they had on hand. I accepted in very few cases.

Not working for money also gives me the choice of whether to take on a job and where to draw boundaries. Most often that involves safety but also when the ham insists on making poor choices about which I have strong negative views. Those in the trades see all types and have learned how to manage bad situations while still taking the project and getting paid. I don't have to.

My one great weakness is food. If I'm offered a meal at the end of the job I rarely refuse. When I was young and living far from home for the first time, a home cooked meal was irresistible. Snacks and drinks while I worked were also welcome. Now that I'm older I don't worry as much about the offer of meals. I am often happy to make a quick exit and return home.

Occasionally the food being offered brings a smile to my face. Last year after doing a tower job for a repeater group, one of the members raced off to the farm he was looking after and surprised me with a carton of farm fresh eggs straight from the chicken coop.

I have been given cups and other paraphernalia customized with their club logo, my call, t-shirts and more. Then came last week when I was given an even better surprise after taking down a tower: a box of hand made cookies. But they weren't just any cookies. Here's a sampling of what was in the box:

It seems a shame to eat them. They're nicely done, and tasty. I quickly realized that it would be advisable to take a photo before the inevitable occurred.

Unfortunately I don't know who made them, other than that it's a woman starting a baking business. There is as yet no address or business name. In any case that information would be useless to a global readership. It isn't too useful to me either since her city is a 2 hour drive from here.

I'm sure there are similar artistic bakeries near to many hams. Seek one out and put a smile on the helpful ham's face with a radio themed edible gift.