Post by JJ Judkins on Mar 16, 2012 18:34:16 GMT -6
I grew up as a child in Texas. Around age 10 my dad got me
one of those little compound-bow beginner kits. Of course,
the first month I went around our land sticking arrows in
anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you know
that a 1955 40 horsepower Farmall tractor tire will take 6
rounds before it goes down? Tough critter.
That got boring, so being the 10 yr. old Dukes of Hazard
fan that I was, I quickly advanced to taking strips of
cut up T-shirt doused in chainsaw gas tied around the end
and was sending flaming arrows all over the place.
One summer afternoon, I was shooting flaming arrows into a
large rotten oak stump in our backyard. I looked over
under the carport and saw a shiny brand new can of Ether
starting fluid. A light bulb went off in my head. I
grabbed the can and set it on the stump. I thought that it
would probably just spray out in a disappointing manner.
Lets face it, to a 10 yr old mouth-breather like myself,
Ether really doesn't "sound" flammable. So, I went back
into the house and got a 1 pound can of pyrodex (black
powder for muzzle loader rifles). At this point, I set the
can of ether on the stump and opened up the can of black
powder.
My intentions were to sprinkle a little bit around the
(Ether) can but it all sorta dumped out on me. No biggie,
a 1 lb. pyrodex and 16 oz Ether should make a loud pop,
kinda like a firecracker, you know? You know what? I'm
going back in the house for the other can. So I got a
second can of pyrodex and dumped it too. Now we're
cookin'. I stepped back about 15 ft and lit the 2 stroke
arrow. I drew the nock to my cheek and took aim. As I
released I heard a clunk as the arrow launched from my
bow.
In a slow motion time frame, I turned to see my dad
getting out of the truck. OH SHOOT! He just got home
from work. So help me it took 10 minutes for that arrow
to go from my bow to the can. My dad was walking
towards me in slow motion with a questioning look in
his eyes.
I turned back towards my target just in time to see the
arrow pierce the starting fluid can right at the
bottom. Right through the main pile of pyrodex and into
the can. Oh shoot. When the shock wave hit it knocked
me off my feet. I don't know if it was the actual
compression wave that threw me back or just reflex jerk
back from 235 fricking decibels of sound. I caught a
half a millisecond glimpse of the violence during the
initial explosion and I will tell you there was dust,
grass and bugs all hovering 1 ft above the ground as
far as I could see. It was like a little low to the
ground layer of dust fog full of grasshoppers,
spiders, and a worm or two. The daylight turned
purple.
Let me repeat this . .. THE COTTON PICKING DAYLIGHT
TURNED PURPLE. There was a big sweet gum tree out by
the gate going into the pasture. Notice I said "was".
That sucker got up and ran off. So here I am, on the
ground blown completely out of my shoes with my
thundercats T-Shirt shredded.
My dad is on the other side of the carport, having
what I can only assume is a Vietnam flashback: "ECHO
BRAVO CHARLIE YOU'RE BRINGIN' EM IN TOO CLOSE!!
CEASE FIRE. DAMN IT CEASE FIRE!!!!!" His hat has
blown off and is 30 ft behind him in the driveway.
All windows on the north side of the house are blown
out and there is a slow rolling mushroom cloud
about 2000 ft. over our backyard.
There is a Honda 185 3 wheeler parked on the other
side of the yard and the fenders are drooped down
and are now touching the tires.
I wish I knew what I said to my dad at this moment.
I don't know - I know I said something. I couldn't
hear. I couldn't hear inside my own head. I don't
think he heard me either, not that it would really
matter.
I don't remember much from this point on. I said
something, felt a sharp pain, and then woke up
later. I felt a sharp pain, blacked out, woke
later. Repeat this process for an hour or so and
you get the idea. I remember at one point my mom
had to give me CPR, and Dad screaming "Bring him
back to life so I can kill him again". Thanks Mom.
One thing is for sure, I never had to mow around
that stump again. Mom had been fussing about that
thing for years and Dad never did anything about
it. Dad sold his muzzle loader a week or so
later. I still have some sort of bone growth
abnormality, either from the blast or the
beating, or both.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, get your kids
into archery. It's good discipline and will teach
them skills they can use later on in life.
(Author Unknown)
one of those little compound-bow beginner kits. Of course,
the first month I went around our land sticking arrows in
anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you know
that a 1955 40 horsepower Farmall tractor tire will take 6
rounds before it goes down? Tough critter.
That got boring, so being the 10 yr. old Dukes of Hazard
fan that I was, I quickly advanced to taking strips of
cut up T-shirt doused in chainsaw gas tied around the end
and was sending flaming arrows all over the place.
One summer afternoon, I was shooting flaming arrows into a
large rotten oak stump in our backyard. I looked over
under the carport and saw a shiny brand new can of Ether
starting fluid. A light bulb went off in my head. I
grabbed the can and set it on the stump. I thought that it
would probably just spray out in a disappointing manner.
Lets face it, to a 10 yr old mouth-breather like myself,
Ether really doesn't "sound" flammable. So, I went back
into the house and got a 1 pound can of pyrodex (black
powder for muzzle loader rifles). At this point, I set the
can of ether on the stump and opened up the can of black
powder.
My intentions were to sprinkle a little bit around the
(Ether) can but it all sorta dumped out on me. No biggie,
a 1 lb. pyrodex and 16 oz Ether should make a loud pop,
kinda like a firecracker, you know? You know what? I'm
going back in the house for the other can. So I got a
second can of pyrodex and dumped it too. Now we're
cookin'. I stepped back about 15 ft and lit the 2 stroke
arrow. I drew the nock to my cheek and took aim. As I
released I heard a clunk as the arrow launched from my
bow.
In a slow motion time frame, I turned to see my dad
getting out of the truck. OH SHOOT! He just got home
from work. So help me it took 10 minutes for that arrow
to go from my bow to the can. My dad was walking
towards me in slow motion with a questioning look in
his eyes.
I turned back towards my target just in time to see the
arrow pierce the starting fluid can right at the
bottom. Right through the main pile of pyrodex and into
the can. Oh shoot. When the shock wave hit it knocked
me off my feet. I don't know if it was the actual
compression wave that threw me back or just reflex jerk
back from 235 fricking decibels of sound. I caught a
half a millisecond glimpse of the violence during the
initial explosion and I will tell you there was dust,
grass and bugs all hovering 1 ft above the ground as
far as I could see. It was like a little low to the
ground layer of dust fog full of grasshoppers,
spiders, and a worm or two. The daylight turned
purple.
Let me repeat this . .. THE COTTON PICKING DAYLIGHT
TURNED PURPLE. There was a big sweet gum tree out by
the gate going into the pasture. Notice I said "was".
That sucker got up and ran off. So here I am, on the
ground blown completely out of my shoes with my
thundercats T-Shirt shredded.
My dad is on the other side of the carport, having
what I can only assume is a Vietnam flashback: "ECHO
BRAVO CHARLIE YOU'RE BRINGIN' EM IN TOO CLOSE!!
CEASE FIRE. DAMN IT CEASE FIRE!!!!!" His hat has
blown off and is 30 ft behind him in the driveway.
All windows on the north side of the house are blown
out and there is a slow rolling mushroom cloud
about 2000 ft. over our backyard.
There is a Honda 185 3 wheeler parked on the other
side of the yard and the fenders are drooped down
and are now touching the tires.
I wish I knew what I said to my dad at this moment.
I don't know - I know I said something. I couldn't
hear. I couldn't hear inside my own head. I don't
think he heard me either, not that it would really
matter.
I don't remember much from this point on. I said
something, felt a sharp pain, and then woke up
later. I felt a sharp pain, blacked out, woke
later. Repeat this process for an hour or so and
you get the idea. I remember at one point my mom
had to give me CPR, and Dad screaming "Bring him
back to life so I can kill him again". Thanks Mom.
One thing is for sure, I never had to mow around
that stump again. Mom had been fussing about that
thing for years and Dad never did anything about
it. Dad sold his muzzle loader a week or so
later. I still have some sort of bone growth
abnormality, either from the blast or the
beating, or both.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, get your kids
into archery. It's good discipline and will teach
them skills they can use later on in life.
(Author Unknown)