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from bajabus, Pillars Birthday and the great atomic fireball, part 2 "fitting in"
Part 2 ?Fitting in?
Lynna and I had an idyllic life at the time. We were camped as caretakers on a wonderful large 30 hectare beach front parcel. Left to ourselves
behind some low dunes to the west, a palm grove to the south and an incredible vista of the Sierras to our west we were in paradise. This was a time
when there were very few gringos in the area and barely any real homes on the beach. Our spot was in the corner of a field where there once stood a
small chicken coop, the old cinderblock foundation and castillios still there as a humble reminder of the simple life that Baja used to exemplify. We
parked our school bus there and set up camp with the dull roar of the pacific waves about 200 meters away. Within a week or two, as we realized that
this would really be home for awhile, we began to convert the chicken coop into our chemical mixing shed and assembly area. On the other side of our
camp we setup the drying area and in the arroyo behind us a small storage area.
Our first shells in any area were always willow shells, they climb several hundred feet, break with a soft crack and put out many flaming pellets of a
charcoal streaming composition with long scintillating trails. When done right, they break right at the apex of their journey skyward and resemble a
willow tree, hence the name. We figured this would be a non-threatening quiet intro to our rancho neighbors.
The best part about traveling around and setting up shop is the opportunity to include local ingredients in our formulas. Our needs are simple,
fuels, oxidizers, paper, glue, string, sawdust, masking tape ect. Looking for the right paper in quantities was our first introduction to the
fabulous ferreterias that dot the 16th of September in La Paz. The best of them used to resemble general stores right out of the 30? and 40?s.
Ancient dusty shelves of odd looking farm implements, all manner of rope and string, hand hammered tools, door and window hardware, clothes, c-ck
fighting paraphernalia and lord knows what else. It was great fun to just wander around and occasionally call out to one another when a particularly
interesting thing was found.
One day, shortly after our first successful launch of willow shells was met by enthusiastic, distant yeeha?s from our neighbors we decided to
incorporate a little more color and some flash bang salutes with titanium. The colored stars (pellets) were made just like the willow streamers. The
mixed composition is slowly sifted into a wok like pan holding peppercorns while constantly being agitated and swirled. I would shake the pan and
Lynn would alternately sift the powder and spray a liquid onto the peppercorns so they would slowly grow in size with subsequent sprinklings of
composition. These are then set out to dry and the process is repeated if you want them bigger. When we came to the flash bangs, we realized that we
needed sawdust, and not wanting to drive to La Paz and find donor carpenters we quickly thought of the many ants that set out every night in long
lines to search out food for their underground stores. If you have ever noticed these industrious Baja ants you know what an incredible sight they
are. Every evening as the sun sets they begin to gather around their openings and send out scouts. As darkness falls and the scouts report back, a
long column begins to form that will stretch out hundreds of meters. The next day all that is left are visibly worn trails in the fine Baja dust
snaking off into the desert and an intriguing sawdust like chaff piled neatly around their ant holes. We think that they separate the kernel from the
wild grasses and leave the waste outside. Well that suited us fine because we needed a light fluffy flammable substance. The flash bangs are made of
loose powder and by introducing this chaff you keep the powder from caking. The more micro-passageways in the powder the faster the flames will
spread and the more powerful the resulting bang. These salutes are the nice chest thumping flashes you typically see at the end of a fireworks show,
the titanium creates the cloud of white hot sparks left for a few seconds, hanging like fireflies, after the initial flash.
These new accompaniments to our next night sky painting were met by enthusiastic cheers from our neighbors homes, we knew by the smiles and waves
over the next few days as we drove in and out to the main road that we were welcome additions to the neighborhood. The next few weeks brought curious
visitors wondering where we were getting the wonderful fireworks. The fact that we manufactured them from scratch impressed them greatly and I think
that when they saw our crude factory and living conditions it created a bond because it seemed like we were rancheros like them only we harvested fire
and took as much pride and joy in our work as they did in theirs.
Part 3 ?A visit from the dynamite man?
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Bajabus
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very funny
well apparently someone is still messing with this board as my post was altered. I think you will see the obvious alteration!
I meant rooster fighting
[Edited on 31-10-2002 by Bajabus]
[Edited on 31-10-2002 by Bajabus]
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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Neal Johns
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Fighting
I was wondering about that kind of fighting!
New subject: Did you ever get ahold of Jim Dandy?
Neal
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Bajabus
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jim dandy
Neal I believe we have a message going to him via a friend that will be visiting him in the coming month.
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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BajaNomad
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Actually, that's a built-in censor. The system has been told (by me) to alter some words (actually, any that I specify), and one of them is c-o-c-k
to penis (and it bolds it).
No hacker. Just a little try at auto-word-censoring for protection....
Is that going to annoy you further?
--
Doug
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Bajabus
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No not at all....I don't see any reason to be obscene. But you got to admit it may produce some funny results like "jackbutt"
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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Neal Johns
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Word Change
Don't ever delete Bajabus's story with the word change! This has got to be a classic of good intentions gone wrong!
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Anonymous
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great stuff!
This is a great story, Bajabus, please keep it going. I'm looking forward to Part 3, "A Visit From The Dynamite Man".
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reefrocket
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VOTE - 2 GREAT STUFF
Thanks Bus. I can almost smell the smoke.
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Anonymous
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Funnnny glitch.... By the way, I still love the ferreterias on 16 de septiembre, although I can imagine they might have been more open and fun in the
old days before anybody got into stealing in La Paz. I always liked to windowshop at that corner even if I didn't need anything. The ace hardware
stores up the street have all the shinies and frillies, but if you've got to jury rig something, those ferretarias still can't be beat!...Waiting for
part 3.-Stephanie
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