In Israel, we are going into another lock-down Sunday night, our third, since the Covid-19 pandemic started last March. The numbers of testing positive are rising, probably as a result of holiday season get-togethers and traveling. An estimated 50,000 Israelis went to Dubai for their Winter Vacation, basking in Dubai's warm temperatures and the new found Abraham Accord's relationship. Their return from all parts of the globe, including Dubai, has opened our "Corona Hotels" for their mandatory two-week isolation.

There seems to be hope on the horizon as the new Pfizer vaccine is being administered to hospital workers and the elderly. I somehow qualify as elderly and will get the "shot" this coming Wednesday. This means a return in 21 days for the booster and a week before we are "immune". The question is what that really means. We can only know when the time comes.

My 90 year old father put this period into perspective for me when he said that he was born at the beginning of the "Great Depression" that started in 1930 after the collapse of the Stock Market in 1929. The Depression lasted ten years, followed by World War 2, then followed by the Korean War. As a baby boomer, I have enjoyed the "wonder years" until now, so from his perspective, this pandemic is certainly easier than what his generation endured. Still I am looking forward to getting back to a life where I can see peoples faces, in person, and spending time with family and friends.

The QSO Today Podcast has not suffered from the pandemic as I think many of my guests are available and quite willing to tell their stories including Joe Reisert, W1JR. Joe had a great many mentors in his life. Many of them willing to spend time with a teenage kid who had a love and fascination for radio and electronics, where they helped to lay a solid foundation for Joe's adult professional life. All of these stories remind me of my mentors. As an impressionable teenager, consumed by electronics and radio, my mentors had incredible influence on the decisions that I made in my life. As adult amateurs, with some experience, we still have this influence, but maybe lack the opportunity. I am thinking lots about this influence these days and my questions in the podcast often reflect the ideas that I am trying to work out in my own head. Thanks for listening as I work this out with each new guest. Making the podcast every week is my therapy and cheaper than an hour on a psychiatrist's couch.

As the year draws to a close, I want to wish you and your family, a happy holiday season and a blessed new year full of happiness and good health. There is a light at the end of this tunnel. 

73,  

Eric, 4Z1UG