Speaking of trees......
When I was about 14 or so,I was dove hunting with a friend of mine,and I showed him what a 12 gauge with #8 would do to a two inch thick pine sapling.
Well one day, I thought, hmmm what would it do to a full grown pine? Lets see. So, I shot the tree from about 15 feet or so, and the tree spirits didn't like that, so they sent the shot back into my face!
I looked like I had the measles
Again, lucky I wasn't blinded. As for bottle rockets, we would use PVC tubing for mortars, or rocket tubes. Well one day, I had bigger than average bottle rocket, and the stick was broken off, so I figured I would just lay it in the swale by the drive way and light it, and see what it would do. Well just as I was lighting it, my Dad walked up and asked what I was doing, so I told him, and the rocket ignited, and took off down the swale, then made an upward U turn, and came past me and hit my Dad on the inside of his thigh, just about the knee, and then headed for his crotch, and just in time veered off back up in the air and across the street while doing loop de loops, and exploded. My Dad had a huge bruise on his leg!
I felt really bad about that. But I guess he had forgotten about my incident with my Grandfather's old muzzle loader, and had not learned, not to stand near me when I was "trying" something.
Speaking of fireworks, when I was about 12 or so, my neighbor Buddy, and I were lighting fire crackers, and I had a hand full of black cats, and I had just tossed one, and went to get another one from my fist full in my right hand, when I saw that one right in the middle had a bright red glowing fuse!
Well me being bright and quick thinking individual I was, and am, I thought now how in the @#$# did that happen, then I thought, #@$% ! but before I could dump my hand full of firecrackers,it went off! No damage, just stung like heck! However years later, I had made some little goodies with empty CO2 cartridges, filled with black powder, and about a 6 inch piece of cannon fuse inserted in the hole that I had drilled out, in the neck, and filled around that with rubber cement. Made nice little depth charges. Pretty cool at night, you can see a bright red circle of light when it goes off!
Well I was over at a Friend's house, and I had some with me, and he wanted to see what they would do. So we went outside, and it was dark, and I said just light it and throw it as far as you can and then get back in the house, as there will be shrapnel, so he threw it across the street into the school yard, and I said better get back in side, and he said, nah, it can't go that far, about that time it went off, and a piece of the CO2 cartridge smacked the house wall next to us! Well they were quite popular, until his cousin made some, and was lighting and throwing them, and then he lit one got ready to throw it, and to this day, even he can't explain it, he just stared at it, everyone was yelling throw it!,
and then it went off, and took, part of his thumb, and the tips of two finger, off, and put a piece of metal in his chest!
When I went to England with the World Clown Society, in 1990, I had almost had a heart attack. a week or so before I was to go, the same Friend who tossed the cartridge in the school yard, had given me a partial box of seal bombs, he had gotten from a Friend in California. They use them to scare seals away from fishing nets. At least they were supposed to, I think most just shot the seals. Anyway, a Friend at work wanted a couple, so I put about four of them in my leather jacket pocket, and was going to give them to him at work. Well he wasn't there, that shift, so I just left them where they were, and forgot about them. Went through all the security check points, and were told not to take any pyrotechnics, because of the recent terrorist activities, and we could get what we wanted over there. Well we couldn't but they told us that anyway. So I didn't bring any flash paper, or even matches. So as we are going through security in Miami, just as my jacket was going through the X-Ray conveyor, the buzzer went off at the walk through detector, and the lady at the conveyor belt, leaned over to look. Well I finally get a room with another Clown, and I was taking out my passport from my leather bomber jacket, and then I felt something odd in the pocket.
So I reached in, and pulled out four Seal bombs!
Man if the security check in London's Heath Row airport would have found those, I would still be in a British prison! So luckily, I met an English Clown, who had a pyrotechnic license, and I gave them to him! The big man was sure watching over me! I guess as tired as they were, my Guardian Angel tag team was still on the job.
As for swimming out to retrieve an arrow, with a glowing nock, at 32 de-freeze, it would have to wait till I could get a boat! I don't care what the arrow cost! Cold water and myself don't do well together, unless I am drinking it on a hot day! I am like JW, I would have three Adam's apples!
Oh, I just thought of when I learned at about 13 or so, that household ammonia, and Clorox bleach, would make something very similar to Ammonium chloride gas. So I get a mayonnaise jar, and mix it fifty fifty, and immediately, there is a foggy cloud of gas oozing out of the jar, so I toss it out in the yard. Oops, there is a slight breeze gently blowing in my direction! So I get the hose, and try to stay out of the gas, and start to dilute it. Learned to test the breeze first after that.
Sort of like know which way the breeze is blowing, when you use pepper spray!
