Sunday, September 30, 2012Tonight's picture was taken on July 27th of 2008. Which was four days after Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. We did not know if we were coming or going back then. Peter and I were not sleeping at all and were in absolute shock for weeks. However we tried to keep things somewhat normal for Mattie. As such, Mattie was outside on our deck playing in his sandbox. You may notice in this case that Mattie was actually playing in the sandbox lid. This was typical for Mattie, he used both the box and the lid in very creative ways.
Quote of the day: To leave the world a bit better ... to know that one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Neither one of us slept well last night, which isn't unusual for me anymore. Prior to Mattie getting cancer, I could sleep anywhere and at any time of the day. Now sleep just doesn't come easily to me. Truro is very rural and has its own night sounds, very different from the city sounds I am accustomed to. At one point last night I swore I heard a crow cawing from the rooftop. I knew I had to be mistaken, since crows don't come out at night. This morning I was telling Peter about my night time experience and he enlightened me that I was hearing the call of a raccoon! The children's story, The City Mouse and The Country Mouse, comes to mind, and seems to depict my adjustment to Truro.
For the majority of today it was absolutely POURING, cold, and damp in Truro. I stayed inside in the morning, but Peter ventured outside and snapped a picture of the marsh. Notice the pathway under water, because later on in the blog I will show you the same pathway at low tide. We actually walked on this pathway this evening. 
This is the site of Chatham Radio/WCC. Maritime wireless communication flourished here, one of the 20th century's premier wireless telegraphy stations. The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America build the Chatham receiving station in 1914. This is one of the many stations built during the early part of the 20th Century by Guglielmo Marconi as he expanded his global communications network. It was part of an extensive network of transmitting and receiving wireless stations linking Japan, Hawaii, and the United States to Europe. This building is the operations building, the station's communications hub. Operators in this building forwarded messages to and from Norway. After RCA took over in 1920, it was re-commissioned and became the largest ship to shore wireless telegraphy station in the United States, known for much of the 20th century as Chatham Radio WCC and remained in operation until 1997.
The Museum is a small building, and yet in this small brick one level structure, it was packed with information and history. What intrigued me was many of the docents were sons of men who were Marconi operators. In fact, I noticed that the majority of the visitors were intimately connected to this wireless station in one way or another and it was like a reunion right in the middle of the Museum. Peter and I were clearly of a different generation, and yet I was fascinated to listen to their conversations, we asked them questions, and it was unlike any other museum experience I can say I have ever had. We snapped a picture of some of the displays, and I posted a few of these pictures for you to read if interested. In essence Marconi transformed life for people living and working at sea, and if it weren't for Marconi, there would have been NO survivors on the Titanic. Marconi made wireless communication from ship to shore possible, using the universal language of Morse Code. 
In 1899 Guglielmo Marconi validated his theory that Wireless signals could extend across the Atlantic and offer competition to the Cable monopoly on communication. Marconi was also attracted to Cape Cod for its proximity to Europe and in 1903 astounded the world by completing two way communications between his 35,000 watt station in Wellfleet and Poldu England. Marconi was at the same time extending his enterprise by communicating with ships at sea outfitted with leased Marconi Spark Gap Transmitters and Marconi Magnetic Receivers.
After the extensive loss of life on the Titanic, Congress mandated that ships carrying more than 50 people had to maintain continuous wireless watch. If this legislation was in place in 1912, when the Titanic hit an iceberg, all of its passengers would have likely been rescued. Why? Because there was a nearby ship, the California, who could have rescued the Titanic. However, the California shut off its wireless at 11pm, thereby never receiving the Titanic's disaster message.
The Chatham Wireless Station operated 24 hours a day. In fact, the operators were housed right on campus. Though this compound no longer exists today, it was very obvious from photos the importance of this wireless station for not only Chatham but the United States. During WWII, the Navy occupied this wireless station and were able to intercept many of the German communications.
This evening the rain subsided and we took a walk right on the marsh. Here is a picture of the pathway at low tide. Very different from the first picture I posted today.
Along our walk we saw a Great Blue!
As we walked, we got to meet other people living around us since they were out walking their dogs on the marsh. 
Peter in the marsh grasses!
In the midst of walking quietly we then heard a bird making a racket and buzzing all around us. I introduce you to our resident Kingfisher!
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