Thursday, July 06, 2006

You'll blow your eye out.


Saying for the day: If your not careful with those fireworks you'll lose an eye.

Because we are so close to the fourth of July and because my son patrick managed to get hit in the face with a projectile on this fourth I thought I would share this family story. ) Patrick's fine, except for the circle on his face.)

When Betty’s Father, Alton Mallmann , ( pictured here) was a young boy, about eleven or twelve years old, he lived in a world with far fewer restrictions than ours.
Fireworks were more powerful and easier to obtain.
One did not have to have a fireworks license,
The fire crackers had more powder and more punch , not like today’s which only sting your hand if they go off while you hold them, as opposed to blowing off a finger.

.One of the favorite things that boys did was to put the firecrackers under a can and see how high they could make it go.
They aimed at going as high as the roof or even over the roof.
But the crackers were so powerful they often blew the bottom out of the can.
.Parents of course worried and laid down some rules-get as far away from the can as possible in case of metal pieces-don’t go near a firecracker and can if it doesn’t go off, let your father do it. (fathers were expendable)

But the day came when after many successful launches Alton’s firecracker didn’t fire.
Alton waited what seemed to him like hours and then picked up the can just as the firecracker went off .

His eyes were sprayed with powder and metal fragments and he had a large bump on his head. Worst of all he went blind and was sure he would be blind forever.
During the next week they kept him in a dark room and washed his eyes out , over and over again.
By the end of the week he had most of his sight back. That was the end of firecrackers that year.( And for some years to come)

@@@@
News from Pigeon Falls– the little town in my backyard.– There are still no pigeons in Pigeon Falls. Some people are beginning to take Willie seriously (he’s still sober) and believe they were removed by angels. Some people think that the pigeons left because of all the pigeons that were killed. Whatever the reason people are worried. The big Pigeon Days celebration wouldn’t be the same with no pigeons to celebrate. It would be like holding a bass festival with no bass or a jazz festival with no jazz bands. It just wouldn’t be right.
Frank Henipen may be the only person who is happy that there are no pigeons since he is now doing the town clean up. He got the job by making a deal with Eino to keep himself out of jail for stealing the city documents and trying to frame the Bishop ( not to mention pigeon killing). Eino still feels pretty good about how he bluffed him into confessing.
Nancy says there were a lot of people that came back for the 4th of July holiday. Robert even had some taxi business. Wilson (leaping frog) Nelson’s daughter came home and he got to see his new grandson for the first time. Family reunions came be great. But by the time she left on the 6th Nancy heard they weren’t speaking . They didn’t get along when she lived at home. But old Leaping Frog loved the grandson. Nancy thinks he’ll mellow out and tell his daughter he’s sorry ( even if he’s not) . Sometimes its hard to get along with the people we love.
*****

Link for today-Tired Tunia & the Library- Remember to put the words Dr. John in your comment to get JC points. JC points list updated through July 5th with the Marathon points can be seen by clicking here. I am almost caught up. I have a few things to rebuild on the blog. I have lost one link which need to be restored. But the marathon is counted and posted. I have mailed out the angels. Now the blog cards need to be made for those who earned them.The blog cards are done and tomorrow I will try to get snail mail addresses so I can send them out. This afterrnoon Betty and I built and end table that has been sitting in the hall way since before Christmas. We are still speaking. I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

15 Comments:

Blogger Gary said...

That was a close call. And a very scary story. Firecrackers used to be more powerful if I remember correctly. Especially what they used to call cherry bombs. Those were really dangerous.

5:12 AM  
Blogger Janets Planet said...

Somehow I didnt get one of jafabrit's comments posted to my blog and she mentioned your name 3 times!

Trying to set the count straight.

5:46 AM  
Blogger Janets Planet said...

My brother got hit in the eye with a corn cob while fooling around with our cousin. Was enough to keep him out of the military.

5:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, he was really lucky, Doc.

Personally, I think fireworks are best restricted to public shows. Every year over here we get accidents at Guy fawkes Night, and every year the debate re-opens about firework safety.

It's easily resolved, except it would mean going against businesses to restrict them. That's politics for you.

5:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember those days of the powerful firecrackers, like Gary said: those firecrackers. The only thing we were allowed to hold were the twizzler thingies...yes, and Dad's were expendable! lol...

6:06 AM  
Blogger Catch said...

I hate to see kids playing with fireworks...they are dangerous.

No pigeons in Pigeon Falls...lucky for Frank! Wonder what the old man said that made his daughter so mad? Your right...sometimes it is hard to love our loved ones.

9:05 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

That story about Betty's father was terrifying. I'm all for taking fireworks out of the public arena.

*

The saga of "Pigeon-less Falls" continues to intrigue . . .

9:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That was scary when Pat got hit in the eye I thougt it hit him in chest or Tummy. Everything was silent. Pete thought From where he was that it hit him straight in the eye. I think someone captured all the pigans or they migrated to Green Bay with Bree.

10:12 AM  
Blogger Cindy said...

I agree- fireworks are dangerous and best left to the professionals- though I've seen some scary things happen even then. Enjoyed the blog marathon, found a lot of interesting blogs and people that I wouldn't have otherwise.

2:58 PM  
Blogger jafabrit said...

Just wanted to say thanks for doing the marathon. It is so much fun and brings such pleasure to so many. Hey I noticed I have a banner on your sidebar and it is way cooooooool. :)

Glad the firework accident wasn't worse, but what a scare.

4:01 PM  
Blogger Cissa Fireheart said...

See, that's why I leave fireworks to professionals. I would not have been so lucky and definately gone blind!

4:57 PM  
Blogger Cissa Fireheart said...

BTW, I got my Doctorate Degree today when I got home and checked my pile of mail - HOORAY!! Thank You Dr. John!!

4:59 PM  
Blogger Lori's Minute said...

You know, next year we could go downtown and watch the fireworks for FREE and no one would get hurt.

I agree with Bree, the pigeons migrated with her to GB because our car is covered with doo-doo.

5:26 PM  
Blogger kristi said...

That is a scary story, thank goodness for regulations now!!!!

I have been catching up on all of the Pigeon Falls news....boy am I a little behind

5:59 PM  
Blogger Chris Smith said...

I'm glad my kids don't read your blog. When we lived in the country they thought it was fun to shoot bottle rockets at each other regardless of what I said. My brothers were no help, they went and bought more for them! Since we're in the city now, we only watched instead of shooting any off this year.

12:00 AM  

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