I tuned the kitchen radio tuned to 900am, a frequency not used by any New York City broadcasters. I was listening for the in-betweens, the momentary leashing in of stray stations from far away broadcasting at 900 or leaking over from neighboring frequencies.
I heard those type mixed signals until, mysteriously at first, a 1940s-sounding radio noir show came across, sounding clear as a station would if its transmitter was across the street. Thoughts that this might actually be a brand new NYC station were dismissed later when a weather announcer predicted temperatures of -8° and another announcer reported traffic conditions for roads I’d never heard of.
An announcer mentioned Burlington, which led me to think the station was coming from that city in Vermont.
Alas, today I learned there is a city named Burlington in Ontario, Canada, northwest of Toronto. The station I am picking up is CHML from Hamilton, Ontario, possibly the most far-away station I’ve ever picked up here.
Still, for those few moments of intrigue it was tantalizing to imagine that something metaphysical or just strange was happening inside the radio. Had Lilliputian announcers invaded the device and those of others in the area in an attempt to spread propaganda about extreme weather that is not really coming, this to boost sales of a certain type of winter wear or to influence political discussion of climate change?
Nah. Never anything so predictable in its winsomeness. Just a distant station coming through a wormhole of about 500 miles into a very crowded broadcast spectrum.
