| I remember one summer, some adventurous young CardinKids
decided that the swimmin' hole (clear pond) was too shallow.
Someone, probably the older boys, had built a nice diving board. All too
often, when diving, a person would stick their head in the mud, and that just
wasn't any fun at all. After much careful consideration, it was decided
that dynamite was the solution. After all, in ALL the cowboy movies
(Remember ALL the cowboy movies?) dynamite was strong stuff! It could move
mountains, so it was decided that it would certainly deepen a swimmin' hole. Now, in those days, dynamite, caps and fuse weren't hard to obtain if you were a little adventurous. These boys were, so it wasn't long before the supplies were obtained. (Probably illegally) The next great problem was how much to use. After all, they had a whole box of 60% gel. (50 sticks) I believe it was reckoned that they should start small, just for safety. So, they tied three sticks together, crimped the cap on about two feet of fuse, lit it and threw it in. Guess what? DYNAMITE FLOATS!! Well, you can imagine the effects of that knowledge on those young fellows! They ran like hell for the nearest rise, to hide behind. The resulting explosion surely rattled every window in town. It must have been heard in Miami. It was the talk of the town for a few days. Nobody could figure out what that explosion was, and those boys sure weren't going to tell. A person could end up in jail for things like that. Adults just didn't understand the importance of a deeper swimmin' hole. Not ones to let a small drawback deter them from their mission, a few days (sure, that was plenty of time to wait, wasn't it?) later, they took a couple of bricks to tie to the dynamite. This time, four or five sticks were used. Everything worked perfectly. The ground shudder was a little more than expected, and the geyser was certainly impressive. All the fish going belly up was a surprise, as well as the snakes just going crazy. Needless to say, between the dead fish and the muddy water, clear pond was unusable for quite some time. After the smell died, and the mud cleared, it was discovered that it had not worked. The water kept the explosion from expelling any solids. All it did was make the bottom softer, and easier to stir up. The results were considered for several days, and written off as a bad idea. I'm sure there is a moral here somewhere, but I'll be danged
if I can figure out what it is.
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