SOLON & BEYOND: Inquiry from afar on the passing of Carolyn Waugh

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my Friends. Don’t worry be happy!

I didn’t realize The Town Line paper went as far away as Portland, I think that is wonderful! Especially after I received the following very interesting e-mail from Betty Manter who lives there.

She wrote: Dear Marilyn Rogers-Bull, I just learned Carolyn Waugh passed away and found your article/tribute to her. I am grateful to have stopped into the farm summer before last and spent time with her. She was amazing and remembered me and details about me and my last visit, which had been a longtime prior.

I am a direct descendant of the original Solon French family that built her farm, my great-grandmother, Livonia French, grew up there and my grandmother (Mary Berry Manter) and I often visited the farm as my grandmother had so many memories there. The last family member to have grown up there, Esther French, gave me a photo of the farm which I’ve always treasured. It was taken on her wedding day to Earl Spaulding, who lived on a neighboring farm. The last French to own the farm, sold it to Carolyn’s father.

Anyway, I’m writing because I would really love to come to Carolyn’s celebration on June 29. I’d also like to donate my old photo to the Solon Historical Society. (There must be one?) Could you help me here and offer information as to how I might learn more about Carolyn’s celebration?

Thank you in advance for your help.

I am hoping I can find out the answers to her questions and get in touch with her.

Embden Community Center will be putting on their monthly supper on Saturday, May 11, at 5 p.m.

Went to the Solon Town Office one day last week and received this bit of information: “On behalf of the MMA Workers Compensation Fund, we are pleased to send the Town of Solon a grant reimbursement check for $2,000. The check was mailed to Elaine Aloes has been copied on this letter.

“The check is payment for the October 2018 Ed MacDonald Safety Enhancement Grant awarded to your department for purchasing of fifteen Fire Helmets.

“If you have any questions about your grant award please call Jennette Holt at 624-0140. Your interest in workplace safety is appreciated and we are glad the MMA Workers Compensation Fund could assist you with your safety efforts. Together we are building safe communities.”

Again this year BIKES FOR BOOKS PROGRAM is going on at Solon Elementary School. This spring Solon students are participating in the Bikes for Books program. The Solon Masons are sponsoring a program at the school for the fourth year.

In this program, students read books and fill out a form on each book they read. In early June there will be an assembly with a drawing from the book forms that have been submitted. A girl and a boy from each class will win a new bike donated by the Masons. We will also award a prize to the student who reads the most books in each class.

Your child’s teacher has book forms for this program. Students are encouraged to read books at school and at home.

We appreciate the support of the Masons in making this program possible at our school this spring.

In March the third graders participated in a coloring contest sponsored by the Elks for schools in our region. Two of the regional winners came from Solon Elementary School.

Winning fourth place was Levi Hamblen, who received a certificate and a check for $15. Winning first place was Lane Frost, who received a certificate and a check for $75. Congratulations to Levi and Lane!

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled: The Human Touch: ‘Tis the human touch in this world that counts, The touch of your hand and mine, Which means far more to the fainting heart Than shelter and bread and wine; For shelter is gone when the night is over And bread lasts only a day, But the touch of hand and the sound of the voice Sing on in the soul always. (words by Spencer Michael Free.)

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Yes, there are flying squirrels in Maine

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flying squirrel

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Did you know flying squirrels exist in Maine? Well, be it known that Maine is home to the northern flying squirrel.

The northern flying squirrel, Glaucomys sabrinus, is one of two species of the animal, the only flying squirrels found in North America. The northern flying squirrel is found in coniferous and mixed forests across the top of North America, from Alaska to Nova Scotia, south to North Carolina and west to California. The flying squirrel was placed on the protection list on June 6, 2011, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

If you want to see a flying squirrel, you will have to be an early riser, because the flying squirrel, unlike its cousins, is nocturnal. All other North American squirrels are active during the day.

Arboreal rodents, they have thick light brown or cinnamon fur on their upper body. A furry membrane extends between the front and rear legs, and allows the animal to glide through the air. It’s grayish on the flanks and whitish underneath. They have large eyes and a flat tail. They can also be identified by their long whiskers, which are common to nocturnal mammals.

A flying squirrel doesn’t actually fly, but glides downward, using the wide flaps of skin along its sides to help slow its descent. To become airborne, this mammal leaps and spreads its legs, uses its tail as a rudder and moves its legs. Immediately after it lands, it will scurry to the far side of the tree just in case an owl is in pursuit. They can glide distances of 20 to 30 feet.

Northern Spotted Owl

Northern flying squirrels are an important prey species for the Spotted Owl. Other predators include large birds, especially the Great Horned Owl, hawks, the American Marten, the Canadian Lynx and Red Fox.

The major food sources for the squirrels are mushrooms of various species, although they also eat lichens, nuts, tree sap, insects, carrion, bird eggs and nestlings, and buds and flowers. The squirrels are able to locate truffles, although they also seem to use cues such as the presence of coarse woody debris, indicating a decaying log, and spatial memory of locations where truffles were found in the past.

They are also known to cache food for when food supplies are lower. These caches can be in cavities of trees, as well as in the squirrels’ nest. Lichens and seeds are commonly cached.

The northern flying squirrel nests in holes in trees, and will also build outside nests called dreys. They sometimes use cavities created by woodpeckers.

Except when rearing young, the squirrels shift from nest to nest frequently. They often share nests. Although there usually are 2-5 individuals in a nest, it was once observed that over 50 individuals were occupying one nest.

The sharing of nests is important in maintaining body temperature in the winter, as flying squirrels do not hibernate. In the winter, they tend to live in conifer areas of mixed woods, while in summer they are found in conifers and deciduous areas. This behavior is associated with the belief that the canopy cover is important in protecting the squirrels from predation and colder temperatures. In all but the worst severe weather conditions, the squirrels are active year round.

Squirrels, in general, get no respect. They are a nuisance around bird feeders and can raise havoc in a garden, not to mention them digging through your pumpkins in search of the seeds. But, did you know that January 21 is Squirrel Appreciation Day? Founded by Christy Hargrove, a wildlife rehabilitator, from Asheville, North Carolina, in 2001, that day is set aside annually to give us all the opportunity to enjoy and appreciate the tree-climbing, nut-gathering neighborhood squirrels. That includes flying squirrels, too.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What player made the first 3-point basket in the NBA?

Answer can be found here.

TRASH TALK: We should treat every day like Earth Day

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by Irene Belanger

Mon. April 22 was “Earth Day.”

In our towns we should treat every day as Earth Day to keep our roadsides and yards clean of litter as possible.

Many thanks to China Democrats for cleaning in the China Village areas (thank you Matt Brunton for organizing the effort), Boy Scout Troop #479, for the areas they will do, the Bennetts and Richard Dillenbeck, for Lakeview Drive areas, the Goodine Family Group, for Route 32 South, and all of you who clean your roadsides to make us all proud . Thank you to all Palermo folks who do their areas.

If some of you would like to do a cleanup of your road please feel free to organize a group and let me know if you need some extra bags.

Please remember it is state law to keep your large loads covered and secured so that debris doesn’t fly off, and so that you don’t get fined for littering.

Thank you all so much for doing your part! Irene 445-2349.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Welcome to Citrus County, Florida

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by Debbie Walker

Last week I wrote about an area north of where I live in Florida. It was Panama City Beach and that area was devastated by hurricane Michael in October 2018. The damage from this storm has been estimated at $25.1 billion dollars. Some readers were curious why I would want to live in Florida and go through hurricanes. I am prepared to answer that question.

My area of Florida is considered to be Central West Coast. We are about 90 miles north of Tampa. I lived here for 30 years before I went back to Maine for a few years. What will follow is the information that was passed on to me in the first couple of years that I was here:

I knew nothing about Florida when I moved here in September 1984. My first hurricane experience was quite the lesson. I lived in a mobile home and came home to the evening news announcing the evacuation rules. It said that anyone in Citrus County in a mobile home needed to evacuate to somewhere high and dry.

After we heard the alert, we went out and cleaned up anything that could fly with the wind. About that time my boss arrived and said we ought to come to her house. She had a concrete block house, quite a bit stronger than a mobile.

While at her house with native Floridians, I got an education. Citrus County is bordered on the west side by the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane was spinning and stalled in the gulf. It was out there for a couple of days. It was said we would be a direct hit. The natives said, ‘Absolutely not just watch and see.’ Just as the natives said, when the hurricane started moving again, it left us without much more than some winds and rain.

That night they explained to me there really wasn’t much of a problem unless your home was built on the water, a higher tide than usual would be the issue there. Occasionally, Citrus would get some high winds but sometimes we get that in an afternoon electrical storm.

Hurricanes prefer to travel in warm waters and low elevations. We have seven spring (cold water) fed rivers that feed cold water out into the gulf and we have some of the highest elevations in Florida. If we ever go under water, they will be using scuba divers in Mickey Land. Hurricanes usually hit south of us in Tampa (built primarily under sea level!) and bubble out around us north to Cedar Key.

We also have about a 30-mile shallow shelf of land under our section of the gulf. It gets deeper about a foot a mile. (It’s not the best place to plan on deep water fishing or diving.) This is also said to be a possible reason for the detouring storms.

Proof of our good fortune are that the tiny islands off our coast are still here. In other coastal areas the wind and flooding have eroded their islands. Okay, so I learned this stuff from the natives but in the past 30-plus years they appear to have been right. I do still believe in evacuations to be on the safe side.

I am not just curious about why I appreciate my area. I could go on all night with neat things about Citrus County, Florida, just ask me. Send your comments or questions to dwdaffy@yahoo.com or call the office and leave a message if you ‘don’t do computers’. Thanks for reading.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: The Carol Sudhalter Quartet and other recordings

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The Carol Sudhalter quartet

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

The Carol Sudhalter Quartet

Live at St. Peter’s Church; Carol Sudhalter, baritone sax and flute; Patrick Poladian, piano; Kevin Hailey, double bass; and Mike Campenni, drums. Alfa Projects AFPCD194, CD, a recorded live concert, from March 7, 2018, at New York City’s St. Peter’s Church.

Carol Sudhalter, now in her 70s, has gained a much-justified fan base in New York City’s Queens in the last 35 to 40 years as one of the finest jazz musicians on baritone sax and flute. Her quartet, consisting of three extraordinary musicians, include pianist Patrick Poladian, Kevin Hailey on the traditional double bass and Mike Campenni on drums.

They perform nine selections in a 50-minute program; the composers are comprised of such jazz legends as Bill Evans, Sunny Rollins, and Hank Mobley, along with good tunes by pianist Poladian, Carol herself (in which she sings very nicely) and a beauty, Luiza, from the Bossa Nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Carol is open to bookings here in Maine. For those who run clubs and other such venues, the contact email address is sudhalter.com . Her music making can also be heard on several YouTubes.

This CD is one that holds up with repeat listenings.

Given my perpetual fascination with duplicate recordings of favorite classical works, I offer quick comments on four different renditions of the ever popular Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto, arguably the most famous Piano Concerto ever composed:

A live broadcast featuring Van Cliburn with Istvan Kertesz conducting the Berlin Philharmonic; Priceless C70581, cassette, released mid-1980s. It is a good performance but doesn’t stand out like others. Strange, because Cliburn and Kertesz did exceptional recordings in otherwise separate realms. And there is no information with the tape about anything.

Another Tchaikovsky work is the Violin Concerto in an exciting Yehudi Menuhin/Ferenc Fricsay collaboration with the RIAS Orchestra, of Berlin, possibly the same studio one released elsewhere on Deutsche Grammophon.

A studio CD of pianist Misha Dichter, with Jan Latham-Koenig, a name new to me, conducting the Baden-Baden, Germany, SWF Symphony Orchestra; DDD USCD71845. Misha Dichter recorded this back in the mid 1960s with Erich Leinsdorf conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra for RCA Victor, a solid dramatic performance on its own terms.

Dichter’s re-make is even more exciting and was recorded the same day, March 22, 1988, as the composer’s Second Symphony, the Little Russian, with the gifted well-known David Zinman replacing Latham-Koenig at the podium.

Two CD couplings of Tchai First with the wonderful Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto:

Hiroko Nakamura with Evkeny Svetlanov conducting the USSR State Academy Symphony Orchestra; Sony SK48030, recorded at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall May 23 and 28, 1990.

Geza Anda with Alceo Galliera conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra; Testament SBT 1064, recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios (the exact same locale as the classic Beatles album in 1969), with Rachmaninoff’s G Major and G Minor Preludes, October 12 – 15, 1953, and January 4, 1954.

The late pianist Hiroko Nakamura possessed an elegant balance of sweet lyricism and tart intensity that added an extra special quality to these much-recorded works. It was a style that didn’t call attention to itself, unlike the differently gauged flamboyance of such virtuoso titans as Horowitz, Richter, Lazar Berman, and Georg Bolet. There were a few moments when her lyricism skirted blandness. But these performances were quite enjoyable. And Svetlanov conducted with lots of excitement and intensity.

She died of colon cancer, at 72, in 2016.

Geza Anda (1921-1976) left a sizable recorded legacy of crown jewels. He had precisely-filleted virtuosity, probing musicianship, commitment to the score, legendary virtuosity and a roaring zest for the good things in life – wine, good hardcover books, records with a high class music system and great conversation for when hard labor was over.

According to one observer, “he disliked sackcloth and ashes.”

The performances of both Concertos, with the superlatively powerful and eloquent conducting of the horrifically underrated Alceo Galliera (1910-1996) and the sizzling two very famous Preludes render this CD an absolute must for listeners who truly care about this music.

Another Jim Thompson quote, from his 1961 novel, The Transgressors, describing a good guy deputy sheriff and a bad guy muscle man, Augie the Hog Pellino, from the Tony Soprano cosmopolitan New Jersey areas, stalking each other in the West Texas nighttime countryside, the sheriff with the greater advantage – “Pellino was doubtless a real handy boy around the big towns, but out here he probably stumbled over his own feet. Set a little trap for him, and he’d run over himself to get into it.”

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Health Services And Screenings Every Woman Should Know About

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(NAPSI)—Eating a healthy diet, exercising, getting a regular Pap smear and mammogram—these are just a few of the many steps women can take to help ensure they live longer, healthier lives. However, it can be tough to figure out what to do, given the mountains of information that are available. So, how can women determine which services and screenings are right for them—and when? You can start by being aware of what the science says about preventing certain health conditions and by having an open and honest conversation with your doctor about your values and preferences.

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death for women. Fortunately, you can help prevent CVD by addressing important risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. For example, if you are age 40 to 75, talk to your doctor about your CVD risk and whether a low- or moderate-dose statin may be right for you. Statins are medications that lower your cholesterol, prevent buildup of cholesterol and fats in your arteries, and reduce your chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

Depending on your age and risk factors, taking a low-dose aspirin daily can also potentially help prevent CVD. When blood clots form in narrow blood vessels, such as the ones in your heart and brain, it can cause a heart attack or stroke. Aspirin can help keep these blood clots from happening, lowering your risk. There are some risks associated with taking low-dose aspirin every day, so make sure you talk to your doctor about whether aspirin is right for you.

Taking statins and aspirin to prevent CVD are effective but they are just one part of CVD prevention. You can reduce your risk of CVD by quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and becoming more physically active. If you smoke, talk to your doctor about ways to help you quit. If you are overweight and have other CVD risk factors or even if you are healthy and simply want to stay that way, ask your doctor about how you can develop heart-healthy habits.

Cervical Cancer

Screening for cervical cancer finds the disease when it is most treatable. Unfortunately, 12,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year. Most cases of cervical cancer happen in women who have not been regularly screened or appropriately treated. That is why it is critical for women to get screened regularly starting at age 21. There are several effective options for screening, depending on your age and preferences. The Pap test and the human papillomavirus (HPV) test are the most effective ways to screen for cervical cancer and are done during a visit to your doctor’s office. Talk to your doctor about which test is best for you and how often you should be tested.

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women; roughly 237,000 cases are reported in the United States each year. Breast cancer screening aims to find the disease early, when it is easier to treat. Mammograms, which are X-ray pictures of the breasts used by doctors to look for early signs of the disease, are the most effective method of screening for breast cancer. Evidence shows that the benefits of mammograms increase with age, with women aged 60 to 69 most likely to benefit from screening. Still, about one in three women who should get a mammogram regularly do not. If you are between the ages of 50 and 74, talk to your doctor about getting a mammogram regularly. Some women decide to start screening as early as age 40. Talk with your doctor about your individual situation and circumstances, when you should start screening, and how often you should be screened.

Screening for Osteoporosis

As people age, their bones begin to thin. For some people, their bones become very weak and can break or fracture more easily, a condition known as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis affects one in every four women age 65 or older in the United States. Bone measurement tests can be used to screen for osteoporosis and identify the likelihood of future fractures. For people who have osteoporosis, treatments are available to reduce the risk of a fracture. If you are a woman age 65 or older (or younger than 65 with certain risk factors), ask your doctor about being screened for osteoporosis and other ways to improve bone health.

Recommendations for Keeping Yourself Healthy

These recommendations were developed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—an independent group of national experts in prevention. The Task Force makes recommendations, based on the latest science, about what works and what doesn’t work for preventing disease and promoting good health.

Learn More

For more information on these and other Task Force recommendations, visit www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org.

SOLON & BEYOND: Awards presented to bookmark contest winners

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

On an assembly at Solon Elementary School on March 20, town librarian Megan Myers and library trustee Rich Roberts presented awards to the winners of the sixth annual Bookmark Contest that the school holds in conjunction with the Coolidge Public Library. Each winner received a certificate and a book from the library, and their bookmarks have been duplicated to pass out to library patrons. Bookmark winners are Charlotte Hamilton, Nevaeh Palmer, Katelyn DeLeonardis, Karen Baker, Olive Macdonald, Layla Andrews, and Lillianna McCoy.

Kindergarten screening for students entering kindergarten in the fall of 2019 will be held on Tuesday, May 7, at Carrabec Community School. Please call Heidi Atwood at 696-3100 to make an appointment for your child to be screened.

Third Quarter Honor Roll: All A’s; Katelyn Deleonardis, Kaitlin Dellarma, Lane Frost, Cody James, Madyson Mckenney, Macie Plourde, Jillian Robinson and William Rogers. All A,s B’s: Isabella Atwood, Karen Baker, Kaylynn Clark, Amelia Cooper, David Dixon, Veronica Hoffman, Jayden McKenny, Ella Mckinnon, Aiden McLaughlin, Joseph McLaughlin, Riley Pelkey, Annabell Roderick, Thomas Roderick, Asron Soosman, Kaitlyn Soucie and Fisher Tewksbury.

Dates to remember: Public Hearing on the budget on April 25, at 6 p.m., at Carrabec High School. Budget referendum vote Tuesday, May 7.

Career Days Scheduled: RSU #74 will be holding three Career Days for K-5 students in May. Each Career Day will be held at the Garret Schenck School for students from all three elementary schools. Each student will hear three speakers talk about their jobs so that students begin to learn about career options when they’re young.

Career Days will be May 2 for grades K-1, May 16 for grades 2-3, and May 23 for grades 4-5. The timeframe will be 8:30 – 10:15 each day. Parents are welcome to join them for Career Day activities.

The following e-mail was sent to me about the April meeting of the Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club by the secretary. “Last meeting we had 14 members and four leaders. We had Cooper as president and Sarah did this report. Craig did lice spray, Devon and Mat did string art. Katelyn and Autumn made ambrosia.

April 27 has been set up for two members to give their demonstrations at Bingham Grange. There will be a supper at 6 p.m. for everyone.

After we had refreshments.

On May 4 we will have the Luck of the Draw. The kids will help by being runners. Hailey Dellarma will be making a basket for that.

Next meeting will be on May 11. We will be doing stepping stones.

Received the following e-mail with the words, “Support Local Yarn Store Day,” on April 27, 2019. Dear Yarn Friends, Next Saturday is LYS (Local Yarn Store) Day, an occasion for folks worldwide to step out and show support for their local brick and mortar yarn stores.

We think it’s a perfect opportunity for us to let you know how much we appreciate all of you. You truly are what puts the “Happy” in Happknits!

Any yarn purchase on that day will get your name entered into a drawing for a $25 Happyknits gift certificate. We will also be offering a free download of the yet-unpublished Magical Thinking shawl pattern from Ravelry designer Casapinka to anyone who purchases the yarn to make it.

We hope you can stop by between 9 a,m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 27.

Saturday, April 27: “Earth Day” Kennebec Banks Picnic Area Clean-up (April 28 rain date) from 1 to 4 p.m. Will you help us clean up our popular Kennebec Banks Picnic Area? Every year many wonderful volunteers help us get this beautiful river park ready for the summer. Please join us! With your help we hope to be even more ambitious by picking up litter from the east side of the Eddy to the picnic area and boat launch.

And now for Percy’s memoir:

Be glad that your life has been full and complete,
Be glad that you’ve tasted the bitter and sweet,
Be glad that you’ve walked in sunshine and rain,
Be glad that you’ve felt both pleasure and pain,
Be glad for the comfort that you’ve found in prayer…
Be glad of God’s blessings …His love and His care.

(words by Helen Steiner Rice)

ERIC’S TECH TALK: The 5G future and the fight with China

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by Eric W. Austin

There’s a new wireless technology being rolled out this year that promises to be the biggest technological revolution since the invention of the cell phone. Dubbed 5G NR (“fifth generation new radio”), this isn’t just an upgrade to the existing 4G cellular network, but a radical reinvention of wireless technology that will require an enormous investment in new infrastructure, but also promises massive improvements in bandwidth, speed and latency.

This new cellular technology achieves these incredible improvements by making fundamental changes to the way cellular networks function. Whereas the old 4G technology used radio waves in the microwave band between 700 MHz and 3 GHz to communicate, 5G will tap into previously unused radio frequencies in ranges from 30 Ghz to 300 Ghz, known as millimeter bands. In addition, the new 5G technology will transmit across wider frequency channels of up to 400 Mhz, compared with 4G’s limit of only 20 Mhz.

Now, that may sound like a lot of technobabble, but it has real world implications, so let me explain.

A radio wave can be imagined as a wavy line traveling through space at the speed of light. Information is transmitted by manipulating the crests and valleys that make up that wavy line, much like the dots and dashes in Morse Code. The number of crests and valleys in a radio wave that pass a point in space in a specific amount of time determines the quantity of information transmitted. This is called the frequency of a radio wave. Since you can’t increase the speed at which a radio wave travels (it will always travel at the speed of light), the only way to increase information transfer is to increase the number of crests and valleys within a single radio wave. This is done by increasing its frequency. You can think of this as the difference between a wavy piece of string and a tightly coiled spring. While both the string and the spring are made from material of the same length, the spring will contain a greater number of crests and valleys and take up considerably less space. This is the basic concept behind the move in 5G to transmit using higher frequency radio waves.

Since the higher frequency radio waves of 5G technology are capable of transmitting a much greater amount of data than earlier microwave-based 4G technology, one can reasonably ask, why aren’t we using it already? The answer is simple. These high-frequency waves are much smaller, with their crests and valleys more tightly packed together, and therefore require receivers which are much more sensitive and difficult to manufacture. While such receivers have been available for military applications for a number of years, it has taken time for it to become cost effective to produce such receivers for wider commercial use. That time has now come.

The ability to fit more information into smaller transmissions, in addition to the use of wider frequency channels, means a hundredfold increase in data transfer times, and lower power consumption for devices.

However, there are also some significant downsides to using these higher frequencies. While millimeter waves can pack more information into a single broadcast, their shorter wavelength means they can also be easily blocked by obstacles in the environment and absorbed by atmospheric gases. Although the antennas needed to receive these transmissions will be much smaller than the giant cell towers in use today, we will need more of them because 5G antennas require line-of-sight in order to receive transmissions. Instead of cell towers every few miles, as we have for our current 4G/3G cellular network, hundreds of thousands of smaller antennas will have to be installed on office buildings, telephone poles and traffic lights.

This new 5G technology couldn’t have been implemented earlier because it requires the existing fourth generation infrastructure already in place in order to make up for these deficiencies.

While the new 5G technology has some real benefits to human user experience, like having enough bandwidth to stream 50 4K movies simultaneously, speeds that are 20 times greater than the average U.S. broadband connection, and the ability to download a high definition movie in less than a second, the real excitement lies in how this upgrade will benefit the machines in our lives.

A confluence of technologies ripening in the next few years are set to revolutionize our lives in a way that promises to be greater than the sum of the individual parts: this new, high-speed 5G cellular upgrade; artificial intelligence; and the rapidly widening world of the Internet of Things (IoT). These three technologies, each with astonishing potential on their own, will combine to change our lives in ways that we can only begin to imagine.

I have spent this article talking about 5G, and you have likely heard a bit about the emerging field of artificial intelligence, but the final item on this list, the Internet of Things, bears a bit of explaining. The Internet of Things is an industry buzzword referencing the increasing level of sophistication built into everyday appliances. Your car now routinely has cameras, GPS locators, accelerometers and other sensors installed in it. Soon nearly every electrical device in your house will be similarly equipped. In the future, when you run out of milk, your refrigerator will add milk to a list of needed items stored in the cloud. On your way to the grocery store, your home A.I. will send a message ahead of you and robots at the store will prepare a shopping cart with the requested items, which will be waiting for you when you arrive. Stepping through your front door after a long day at work, your phone will ping you with a list of recipes you can prepare for dinner based on the items you’ve recently purchased.

This is the Internet of Things. It’s every device in your life quietly communicating behind the scenes in order to make your life easier. Although this idea might seem a bit creepy at first, it’s coming whether you like it or not. According to statistics website Statista.com, there are currently more than 26 billion devices worldwide communicating in this way. By 2025, that number is expected to top 75 billion.

The upgrade to 5G, with its increases in speed and bandwidth, is not so much a benefit to us humans as it is an aid to the machines in our life. As more and more devices come on line and begin to communicate with each other, the demand for greater speed and bandwidth will increase exponentially. Soon the devices in your house will be using more bandwidth than you are.

There are also some significant security concerns arising from the need to build additional infrastructure to support the new 5G network. It will require the installation of billions of antennas and 5G modems across the world, in every town, city and government building. But who will build them? According to a February 2019 article in Wired magazine, “as of 2015, China was the leading producer of 23 of the 41 elements the British Geological Society believes are needed to ‘maintain our economy and lifestyle’ and had a lock on supplies of nine of the 10 elements judged to be at the highest risk of unavailability.” With this monopoly on the materials needed for high tech production, Chinese companies like Huawei, which is already the largest telecommunications manufacturer in the world, are set to corner the market on 5G equipment.

You may have heard of Huawei from the news recently, as the U.S. government has accused the company of everything from violating international sanctions to installing backdoors in the hardware they manufacture on behalf of the Chinese government. China’s second largest telecommunications company, ZTE, who is also looking to seize a piece of the emerging 5G pie, has been the subject of similar accusations, and last year paid more than $1.4 billion in fines for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

Do we really want to build our communications infrastructure with equipment made by companies with close ties to the Chinese government? It’s a real concern for security experts in the U.S. and other western countries. Fortunately, European companies like Nokia and Ericsson, South Korea’s Samsung and California’s Cisco Systems are emerging as threats to this Chinese monopoly.

The new technology of 5G is set to revolutionize cellular communications in the next few years, but the real story is how the confluence of technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, in combination with this upgrade in communications, will change our lives in ways we can’t possibly foresee. The 5G future will be glorious, exciting, and fraught with danger. Are you ready for it?

MESSING ABOUT IN THE MAINE WOODS: A real problem with someone in my life – Past Me

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by Ron Maxwell

I have a real problem with someone in my life: Past Me. He is an embarrassment and a nuisance and I wish I knew how to handle him. He always fools around and leaves me to do the work. Past Me even thought it a great idea to go camping last February break. I made ready all the food, double checked that I and my two teenage boys were packed. This camping trip even ran afoul of Herself as my wife worried about the temperature. I eventually had to gracefully accept her input and postpone the trip.

This week during April break the boys reminded me of Past Me’s promise and cowardice. I smoothed things over by letting them pick a day to spend in the woods. Once again I was planning and looking after Past Me’s task. Since he had already packed, I just grabbed the bag and the boys and I set out on the day they chose. Our early morning departure looked good, and it looked like the weather forecast would be right about today being the only day of partial sun and not rain this entire week. The only downside to the plan would be the outside chores neglected in our absence. Past Me had promised Herself a day of outside cleanup.

The good day turned bad in several ways. As we hiked to camp, an azure sky turned leaden. Gusting winds then thwarted most attempts at fire. Fleas, thousands of flocking fleas, made my sleeping on the ground not an option. Poor planning left us extra time which turned into a cold, windy walk. Food, started in the kitchen, failed in the field. An impending, frigid, sleepless night loomed as we huddled by our finally started fire.

Later, around that same fire, I realized my focus on the negatives was wrong. Our day contained all the fun parts of camping. Full packs and all, we had hiked and enjoyed it. We had tamed the wilderness to set up camp. We had overcome failure of the lighters with an emergency kit, my sleep system problem with an extra hammock, and our poor food choices with some good nature. We had wandered packless through the nearly springtime forest, played in streams and made pine mint tea (mint leaves we grow at home are always in my mess kit and the pine needles we picked made a welcome addition.) A safe, basketball sized fire completed our camp, with its small size made effective by adding flat rock reflectors and our microclimate tarp. We had also talked and ate and sat ourselves to that comfortable peaceful silence I love about family.

So, I suggested to the boys we could go home. This could be a new thing: theoretical camping. Camping joy without suffering the eternity of cold darkness until morning. We were only ten miles away, had experienced the best parts of camping and we could work tomorrow on the projects that were needed around the house. We could also, I added, get candy bars on the way home. Neither of them needed convincing past that, so we packed up camp. When we got home I had candy bars for everyone and all my wife said in the way of, “I told you so,” was “So you couldn’t stay away?” The smell of campfire hung about me as I nestled into the couch. I alternated between finishing a Snickers and dozing through a famous actor’s terrible British accent (he was singing some drivel about chimney sweeps, I think…) I also slept great that night.

Next day, as I was taking advantage of beautiful weather to work in the yard, it occurred to me that Past Me had finally done something right. He had shown discretion and coined a new hobby of theoretical camping, camping without the missing home part. So some things can change. But then it dawned on me that some things never do. He had messed about in the woods while I was stuck doing all the hard work at home.

Give Us Your Best Shot! Week of April 25, 2019

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To submit a photo for The Town Line’s “Give Us Your Best Shot!” section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@fairpoint.net!

THREE’S COMPANY: Tina Richard, of Clinton, snapped these deer feeding in her backyard.

 

STORMY SKIES: Michael Bilinsky, of China Village, photographed this eery-looking sky above China Lake.

 

THE BIRDS!: Joan Chaffee, of Clinton, caught these crows, flying over Waterville, looking to roost for the night.