At OneTubeRadio.com, we rarely discuss matters of practical importance. Yes, we do have one emphasis on emergency preparedness, but even there, we hope it’s never of practical value.

Most of the other information we share is of no practical value. We’ll show you how to build a crystal set or a one-tube radio, but we both know that a modern commercially built radio will probably work better at a lower cost. Setting up an amateur radio station at a remote location rarely has much practical value, especially since cellular service is usually (but not always) available. Our science fair ideas are sometimes spectacular, but they probably have no useful value. And even having our URL transmitted from the moon and received in Argentina was hardly a useful undertaking. We even occasionally offer advice for coping with inadvertent time travel, although we have to admit that there’s probably no real need for such preparations.

So this afternoon, it’s not surprising that the kids and I brought the OneTubeRadio.com official corporate vehicle, a 1998 Old Town canoe, to Lake Phalen to visit The Floating Library.

Kennedy’s “We Chose To Go To The Moon” speech. Wikipedia photo.

On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy said:

We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.

No, there’s no good reason to set up a floating library, and there’s no good reason to go visit one. There are plenty of books in libraries located on terra firma. (And unlike most land-based libraries, The Floating Library didn’t even have WiFi.)  No, there’s no good reason to build a crystal set. No, there’s no good reason to build a flame speaker. But we don’t do these things because they are easy. We do them because they are hard.

Weather permitting, The Floating Library will be back at Lake Phalen next weekend, August 4-5, 2018. If you own a small boat, canoe, or kayak, you can launch it from the shore. If you don’t own one, you can rent one there. I can’t tell you any good reason to go, other than that it’s hard. But that’s a good enough reason to go.