Kentucky Teachers Get Screwed By Carpet Bagger Bevin

Here is how every state legislator in Kentucky voted on the bill to destroy the Kentucky Teachers Pension Plan. (Chart by Lexington Herald-Leader March 30, 2018)   Every legislator who voted for this criminal, back room robbery should be voted out of office and never allowed to gain another toehold in Kentucky Politics.  This is blog post in progress.  Please return to read the full written opinion which will be completed within the next three days due to current time constraints on the blogger. 

	Vote	Senator	District	Party	Counties
A	Nay	Adams, Julie Raque	36	(R)	Jefferson
	Yea	Alvarado, Ralph	28	(R)	Clark, Fayette, Montgomery
B	Yea	Bowen, Joe	8	(R)	Daviess, Hancock, McLean
	Nay	Buford, Tom	22	(R)	Fayette, Garrard, Jessamine, Mercer, Washington
C	Yea	Carpenter, Jared	34	(R)	Fayette, Madison, Rockcastle
	Yea	Carroll, Danny	2	(R)	Ballard, Carlisle, Marshall, McCracken
	Nay	Carroll, Julian M.	7	(D)	Anderson, Franklin, Gallatin, Owen, Woodford
	NV	Clark, Perry B.	37	(D)	Jefferson
E	Nay	Embry Jr., C.B.	6	(R)	Butler, Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Ohio
G	Yea	Girdler, Rick	15	(R)	Boyle, Lincoln, Pulaski
	Yea	Givens, David P.	9	(R)	Allen, Barren, Green, Metcalfe, Monroe, Simpson
H	Nay	Harper Angel, Denise	35	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Harris, Ernie	26	(R)	Jefferson, Oldham
	Yea	Higdon, Jimmy	14	(R)	Casey, Jefferson, Marion, Nelson, Spencer
	Yea	Hornback, Paul	20	(R)	Carroll, Henry, Jefferson, Shelby, Trimble
	Yea	Humphries, Stan	1	(R)	Calloway, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Lyon, Trigg
J	Nay	Jones II, Ray S.	31	(D)	Elliott, Lawrence, Martin, Morgan, Pike
K	Nay	Kerr, Alice Forgy	12	(R)	Fayette
M	Yea	McDaniel, Christian	23	(R)	Kenton
	Nay	McGarvey, Morgan	19	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Meredith, Stephen	5	(R)	Breckinridge, Edmonson, Grayson, Hart, LaRue, Meade
N	Nay	Neal, Gerald A.	33	(D)	Jefferson
P	Nay	Parrett, Dennis	10	(D)	Hardin, Jefferson
R	Nay	Ridley, Dorsey	4	(D)	Caldwell, Crittenden, Henderson, Livingston, Union, Webster
	Yea	Robinson, Albert	21	(R)	Bath, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Menifee, Powell
S	Yea	Schickel, John	11	(R)	Boone
	Yea	Schroder, Wil	24	(R)	Bracken, Campbell, Pendleton
	Yea	Seum, Dan "Malano"	38	(R)	Bullitt, Jefferson
	Nay	Smith, Brandon	30	(R)	Bell, Breathitt, Johnson, Leslie, Magoffin, Perry
	Yea	Stivers II, Robert	25	(R)	Clay, Knox, Lee, Owsley, Whitley, Wolfe
T	Yea	Thayer, Damon	17	(R)	Grant, Kenton, Scott
	Nay	Thomas, Reginald	13	(D)	Fayette
	Nay	Turner, Johnny Ray	29	(D)	Floyd, Harlan, Knott, Letcher
W	Nay	Webb, Robin L.	18	(D)	Boyd, Carter, Greenup
	Yea	West, Stephen	27	(R)	Bourbon, Fleming, Harrison, Lewis, Mason, Nicholas, Robertson, Rowan
	Yea	Westerfield, Whitney	3	(R)	Christian, Logan, Todd
	Yea	Wilson, Mike	32	(R)	Warren
	Yea	Wise, Max	16	(R)	Adair, Clinton, Cumberland, McCreary, Russell, Taylor, Wayne

H

	Vote	Representative	District	Party	Counties
A	Nay	Adkins, Rocky	99	(D)	Elliott, Lewis, Rowan
B	NV	Bechler, Lynn	4	(R)	Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Livingston
	Nay	Belcher, Linda	49	(D)	Bullitt
	Yea	Bentley, Danny	98	(R)	Boyd, Greenup
	Yea	Benvenuti III, Robert	88	(R)	Fayette
	Nay	Blanton, John	92	(R)	Knott, Magoffin, Pike
	Yea	Bratcher, Kevin D.	29	(R)	Jefferson
	Nay	Brown, Larry	95	(R)	Floyd, Pike
	Nay	Brown Jr, George	77	(D)	Fayette
	Nay	Burch, Tom	30	(D)	Jefferson
C	Nay	Cantrell, McKenzie	38	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Carney, John	51	(R)	Adair, Taylor
	Yea	Castlen, Matt	14	(R)	Daviess, Ohio
	Nay	Couch, Tim	90	(R)	Clay, Laurel, Leslie
	Nay	Coursey, Will	6	(D)	Lyon, Marshall, McCracken
D	Yea	DeCesare, Jim	17	(R)	Butler, Warren
	Nay	Donohue, Jeffery	37	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Dossett, Myron	9	(R)	Christian, Hopkins
	Yea	DuPlessis, Jim	25	(R)	Hardin
E	Yea	Elliott, Daniel	54	(R)	Boyle, Casey
F	Yea	Fischer, Joseph M.	68	(R)	Campbell
	Yea	Fleming , Ken	48	(R)	Jefferson, Oldham
	Nay	Flood, Kelly	75	(D)	Fayette
	Yea	Fugate, Chris	84	(R)	Harlan, Perry
G	Nay	Gentry, Al	46	(D)	Jefferson
	Nay	Goforth, Robert	89	(R)	Jackson, Laurel, Madison
	Yea	Gooch Jr., Jim	12	(R)	Daviess, Hopkins, McLean, Webster
	Nay	Graham, Derrick	57	(D)	Franklin
	Nay	Greer, Jeff	27	(D)	Hardin, Meade
H	Yea	Hale, David	74	(R)	Menifee, Montgomery, Powell
	Nay	Harris, Chris	93	(D)	Martin, Pike
	Yea	Hart, Mark	78	(R)	Harrison, Pendleton, Scott
	Nay	Hatton, Angie	94	(D)	Letcher, Pike
	Yea	Heath, Richard	2	(R)	Graves, McCracken
	Yea	Herald, Toby	91	(R)	Breathitt, Estill, Lee, Madison, Owsley
	NV	Hoover, Jeff	83	(R)	Clinton, Cumberland, Pulaski, Russell
	NV	Horlander, Dennis	40	(D)	Jefferson
	Nay	Huff, Regina	82	(R)	Laurel, Whitley
I	Yea	Imes, Kenny	5	(R)	Calloway, Trigg
J	Nay	Jenkins, Joni L.	44	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Johnson, DJ	13	(R)	Daviess
K	Nay	Kay, James	56	(D)	Fayette, Franklin, Woodford
	Nay	Keene, Dennis	67	(D)	Campbell
	Nay	King, Kim	55	(R)	Jessamine, Mercer, Washington
	Yea	Koenig, Adam	69	(R)	Boone, Kenton
L	NV	Lee, Stan	45	(R)	Fayette
	Yea	Linder, Brian	61	(R)	Boone, Grant, Kenton, Scott
M	NV	Marzian, Mary Lou	34	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Mayfield, Donna	73	(R)	Clark, Madison
	Yea	McCoy, Chad	50	(R)	Nelson
	Yea	Meade , David	80	(R)	Lincoln, Pulaski
	Nay	Meeks, Reginald	42	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Meredith, Michael	19	(R)	Edmonson, Warren
	Nay	Meyer, Russ A.	39	(D)	Fayette, Jessamine
	Yea	Miles, Suzanne	7	(R)	Daviess, Henderson, Union
	Nay	Miller, Charles	28	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Miller, Jerry T.	36	(R)	Jefferson, Oldham
	Yea	Mills, Robby	11	(R)	Daviess, Henderson
	Nay	Moffett, Phil	32	(R)	Jefferson
	Yea	Moore, Tim	18	(R)	Grayson, Hardin
	Nay	Morgan, C. Wesley	81	(R)	Madison
	Yea	Moser, Kimberly Poore	64	(R)	Campbell, Kenton
N	Nay	Nelson, Rick G.	87	(D)	Bell, Harlan
	Yea	Nemes, Jason	33	(R)	Jefferson, Oldham
O	Yea	Osborne, David	59	(R)	Oldham
	Nay	Overly, Sannie	72	(D)	Bath, Bourbon, Fayette, Nicholas
	Nay	Owens, Darryl T.	43	(D)	Jefferson
P	Nay	Palumbo, Ruth Ann	76	(D)	Fayette
	Yea	Petrie, Jason	16	(R)	Logan, Todd, Warren
	Yea	Pratt, Phillip	62	(R)	Fayette, Owen, Scott
	Yea	Prunty, Melinda Gibbons	15	(R)	Hopkins, Muhlenberg
R	Nay	Rand, Rick	47	(D)	Carroll, Gallatin, Henry, Trimble
	Yea	Reed, Brandon	24	(R)	Green, LaRue, Marion
	Nay	Richards, Jody	20	(D)	Warren
	Nay	Riggs, Steve	31	(D)	Jefferson
	Nay	Riley, Steve	23	(R)	Barren, Warren
	Yea	Rothenburger, Rob	58	(R)	Shelby
	Yea	Rowland, Bart	21	(R)	Hardin, Hart, Metcalfe, Monroe
	Yea	Rudy, Steven	1	(R)	Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman, McCracken
S	Yea	Santoro, Sal	60	(R)	Boone
	Nay	Schamore, Dean	10	(D)	Breckinridge, Hancock, Hardin
	Nay	Scott, Attica	41	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Shell, Jonathan	71	(R)	Garrard, Madison, Rockcastle
	Nay	Simpson, Arnold	65	(D)	Kenton
	Nay	Sims Jr, John	70	(D)	Bracken, Fleming, Mason, Robertson
	Nay	Sinnette, Kevin	100	(D)	Boyd
	Yea	St. Onge, Diane	63	(R)	Boone, Kenton
	Nay	Stewart III, Jim	86	(R)	Knox, Laurel
	Nay	Stone, Wilson	22	(D)	Allen, Simpson, Warren
T	Yea	Thomas, Walker	8	(R)	Christian, Trigg
	Yea	Tipton, James	53	(R)	Anderson, Bullitt, Spencer
	Yea	Turner, Tommy	85	(R)	Laurel, Pulaski
U	Yea	Upchurch, Ken	52	(R)	McCreary, Pulaski, Wayne
W	Nay	Watkins, Gerald	3	(D)	McCracken
	Nay	Wayne, Jim	35	(D)	Jefferson
	Yea	Webber, Russell	26	(R)	Bullitt, Hardin
	Yea	Wells, Scott	97	(R)	Johnson, Morgan, Wolfe
	Nay	Westrom, Susan	79	(D)	Fayette
	Yea	Wuchner, Addia	66	(R)	Boone
Y	Nay	York, Jill	96	(R)	Carter, Lawrence

Find Your Legislator

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Find%20Your%20Legislator/Find%20Your%20Legislator.html

A Damp Walk In The Woods--March 30, 2018

Yesterday, March 30, 2018, I took another walk in the woods near my house in the same area I walked in on March 24, & 25.  This time the snow was all gone, the morning rain had stopped and the area was just somewhere between damp and wet.  I got a little farther out this time since the going was a little easier.  This walk was both a part of my ongoing plan for exercise and time to meditate about the visitation last night for my friend and part-time auction employee, Tim Evans.  Tim who was only 49 died suddenly on Wednesday, March 28, 2018, from a pulmonary embolism. Tim will be buried on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018, and his first child, daughter Clarissa Christine Evans will be born on Monday, April 2, 2018.  Although we were not bosom buddies, we were genuinely friends and my wife Candice & I could always count on Tim and Kim Evans when the chips were down. We had known each other since Candice & I started our auction house in Banner, KY, in August 2012.  They began working with us shortly after we began that auction house and we had worked sales together all the way from Letcher County Kentucky to Kenton County Kentucky.  We could trust them absolutely, respected them tremendously, and knew we could always count on them.  Just about a month and a half ago we had been with them in Paintsville, KY, at a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of their first daughter and they had been absolutely happy.  Now, that little girl will never know her father.  Kim will have to raise her alone and is facing burying her husband of nearly twenty years one day and becoming a mother the next.   

Tim Evans & His Cat In A Dump Truck, Photo by Kim Evans

I walked and thought, looked at the buds popping out on the early trees, the spring flowers starting to bloom after a strange winter.  I have always known that life is not fair.  After working twenty years in the human services professions in the fields of substance abuse, homelessness, general mental health therapy, and juvenile delinquency, I already knew that life is not fair.  But something like the death of a man five days before his first biological child is born will definitely remind you of that.   I had also told a local friend of mine the story of Tim's death yesterday and watched as her face took on that shocked appearance that stories like this cause.  But, at the same time, you realize that no matter what happens in life if you are still alive and able bodied you pick yourself up and go on.  My wife Candice, who has been in a wheelchair nearly twenty years of the twenty-five we have been married also had her worst fears triggered by Tim's death.  She is worried that something similar could happen to me and leave her unable to live alone.  That kind of fear is impossible to directly deal with and the possibility that it could be realized is impossible to prevent.  So I am in the middle of a serious work out routine, exercise daily, eat correctly, and always take my medications.  What else can you do?

Tim & Kim Evans, Photo By Keelie Short

Therefore, yesterday was a great day to walk in the woods, hope unsuccessfully that I could find a few morels, and watch the spring come to the mountains near my home.  I never saw any wildlife to speak of and I might have been too noisy for that.  But the walk gave me time to think and that is what I needed before I went to the funeral home to attend the visitation of a friend who had the ultrasound of his unborn daughter in the lid of his casket.  That is how life works and sometimes it just isn't fair.  

Tim & Kim Evans, Photo By Keelie Short

"The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck---Book Review

Buck, Pearl S. The Good Earth (New York, NY, Washington Square Press 1931)  

Pearl S. Buck, Photo By Arnold Genthe

For nearly sixty years, I have been an avid reader and, at times, during that stretch I have read as many as 100 books a year.  My "To Be Read" shelf is always overloaded and I am always behind.  Yet, somehow, after all that reading and frequent writing about my reading, I have still missed out on many books which I want to read, know I should read, and keep pushing to the back of my mind until later.  Two or three still unmet goals on my mental reading list have been to read all the recipients of the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes along with the recipients of the Caldecott Medal and the Newberry Medal.  I would also like to read most, if not all, the books written by the various presidents of the US.  While I have read numerous works on all those lists, I am a long way from completing any of them.  As a result, I often find myself finally getting around to reading some classic work that I should have completed decades before.  Lately I have completed two works on that list which I should read many moons ago.  Today, I am writing about "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck which was a major factor in her receipt of both the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize.  Additionally, I specialize in Appalachian Literature and Appalachian writers.  While many people argue that Pearl S. Buck was not an Appalachian writer since she wrote most of her body of work about her life in China there is no disputing that she was a native of West Virginia and Appalachia.  She was also educated at Randolph-Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, Virginia.  Based on birth and education, she deserves as much attention in the greater body of Appalachian writers as anyone else.  

"The Good Earth" is the first work in the Good Earth Trilogy or the House of Earth Trilogy.  The central character and protagonist in the novel is the Chinese farmer Wang Lung who progresses from landed poverty to great wealth during the time frame of the novel.  Wang Lung is Buck's personification of the Chinese farmers she knew during her years with her missionary parents in China from the early 1890's to about 1914 when she was sent home to attend college at Randolph-Macon College.  She returned to China and lived there until about 1934 but was eventually pilloried as an American Imperialist after the Chinese Revolution.  But China was always the central force in her life and her writing.  Wang Lung, due to his poverty, is forced to buy a slave woman, O-lan, from the wealthy House of Hwang to be his wife.  Through their mutual hard work and parsimony, they eventually grow wealthy and after the death of O-lan, Wang Lung is able to buy the House of Hwang following the loss of most of their wealth by the sons of Lord Hwang.  In many ways, "The Good Earth" and the character Wang Lung are an every man character and story. 

 The novel delves into Chinese culture without making that culture a primary element but was disputed often by Chinese scholars as being more of a caricature of Chinese life.  But, speaking as a student primarily of Appalachian Culture and Appalachian Literature, I see elements of both in the novel.  Upon the death of his aged father, Wang Lung chooses a piece of his own land on a hilltop to use as a cemetery for his family and his friend and overseer Ching. Pearl Buck also chose to be buried along with her husband, Richard John Walsh, on the family farm in Bucks County Pennsylvania.  While I have not studied the life of Pearl Buck deeply enough to fully defend this point in my argument, that choice of a burial ground on a hilltop on the family farm in the novel as is a very Appalachian thing to do.  Many of my own relatives including my parents, maternal grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles are buried on two such cemeteries in my native Knott County Kentucky and I have written about such cemeteries in this blog.  Additionally, the way in which the protagonist Wang Lung cares for his mentally handicapped daughter, who is only referred to as "my poor fool", is uncharacteristic of the widely publicized way in which both handicapped individuals and female babies are dealt with in China.  This particular character, "my poor fool", is dealt with by her father Wang Lung in much the same way Pearl Buck cared for her only biological child, Caroline Grace Buck, who was mentally handicapped due to the presently treatable genetic condition phenylketonuria.  That type of care, love, and guarantee of personal safety for a handicapped person is much more Appalachian than Chinese.  

As the novel progresses, Wang Lung accumulates wealth and land.   He is tied deeply and permanently to his land and chooses to move back to it before his approaching death taking both his young slave/concubine and his "poor fool" with him to the old Earthen House on the original family farm he inherits from his father.  His three sons and the wives of two of them nurture deep conflicts between them and the last few chapters of the novel are used to set up the remaining two books in the trilogy, "Sons" and "A House Divided".  I sincerely regret waiting so long to read this book and to begin my study of both Pearl S. Buck and her voluminous body of work.  Her place in the greater body of world literature is undisputed and deservedly so.  "The Good Earth" is a classic novel of a man, a family, and the land and in some ways is reminiscent of "East Of Eden" by John Steinbeck.  Its characters are fully developed.  The story is universal in farming communities worldwide.  The themes of family conflict are also universal and deeply human.  This is a great novel and should be required reading for every student or lover of literature. I cannot wait to finish the trilogy. 

A Snowy Walk In The Woods

Over the last several weeks, I have been involved in a daily exercise program of walking and some jogging.  Yesterday, March 24, 2018, since it was snowing heavily I took a 30 minute walk in the neighbors' pasture but turned around fairly fast due to the wet, deep snow.  Today, March 25, 2018, the snow is melting rapidly and the walking was much easier so I hit the woods and made it all the way to the ridge behind my house using old logging roads which were generally open enough to walk on.  The snow is already considerably more shallow than it was yesterday. The sun is shining, and it was a much nicer walk.  I actually got into an area I had never been in before and found someones deer stand which they either forgot to remove at the end of the season, were too lazy to remove, or intend to leave until the attachments are overgrown by the tree. I passed up the idea of climbing into it to see the increased view but a part of me still wishes I had.  I also got to the place where in the past several of my neighbors had placed television antennas in the days before satellite dishes and cable television.  

Finding the antennas, four of them, brought back some wonderful memories from my childhood on Beaver Creek in Knott County Kentucky about 55 miles from where I now live.  When my parents finally got television I was about 8 or 10 years old and in those days the only option was to place an antenna on one of highest points near your home, string a dual wire line from the house to the antenna, and to "walk the television line" nearly every time a wind storm passed through.  The highest point near our house was a spot we all called The Big Rocks, a large outcropping on the top of the mountain behind the house which required a hike of close to a mile through standing timber and across the land of a couple of other owners.  But there was a standing arrangement nearly everywhere in Appalachia that property owners who held the deeds to these high points almost never had any objections to neighbors placing antennas on their property and stringing a line across the land.  But after the arrival of less strenuous options such as satellite dishes and cable television, most of these sites were left with the antennas and the large pipes on which most of them stood untended to eventually fall down and litter the woods just as they do at the site on the mountain above my house.

Ballard Hicks, Photo By Roger D. Hicks

  

But I really wanted to write more about the memories this evoked when I found the site than about the abandoned antennas.  My father, Ballard Hicks, had been 64 when I was born so he was about 73 or 74 by the time we installed the television line.  But he could still traipse the woods with relative ease and when the television line needed work we would set out early, usually on a Saturday or Sunday, take a few sandwiches and something to drink, and hit the hill to find out what the current problem with the line was.  High winds nearly always brought enough tree branches down to break the line or simply blew hard enough to twist the line and create a short in the two wires which were separated by simple plastic insulators every foot or so. At that time, coaxial cable, which would have eliminated much of these problems, was not commonly found in the area. The line was attached to trees every fifty feet or so with two piece ceramic insulators which had a large nail through the center by which they were attached to trees.  Each insulator kept the two wires apart so long as there was no high wind, animal damage, etc.  But squirrels, raccoons, opossums, crows, and other large birds would often land or climb on the line and cause problems even when there was no wind. Basically, when your television went out, you had to take a small roll of wire, some insulators, a pair of pliers, a hammer, and a hand saw and "walk the television line" repairing whatever damage you found. In the end, you would have restored service to three channels out of Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia, which provided limited television service to the greater Big Sandy and Tug River watersheds in Eastern Kentucky.   

The work was usually fairly easy unless a heavy limb had fallen in a way that required it to be removed.  Often when heavy limbs fell, you could just cut the line on each side of the limb, splice it back, and raise it back up high enough to let most wild game or cattle get under it, and the job was done.  The real fun came in seeing and learning about the flora and fauna you could see on the way up and down the mountain.  My father was well versed in the common names of most plants and trees and knew every animal species from one end of their life cycle to the other.  It was always an educational trip.  Also, when we got to The Big Rocks and the job was done, we would sit down, eat our lunch, listen for the C & O Coal train to go up or down Beaver Creek, watch wild game and birds, and talk about whatever popped into our heads.

At times also, the boys in the neighborhood would go camping at The Big Rocks in spring, summer, and early fall.  We would sleep, without a tent and often with only worn out quilts, under an overhang of the rocks which kept us dry even in a mild rain. We would build up a fire, cook whatever we had to eat, listen to the woods at night, play a few games in the surrounding area, and fall asleep to the night sounds of the Appalachian forest.  We never worried about danger or rock falls due to building a fire under the overhang until a boy was killed by a rock fall in Floyd County Kentucky at a similar place called The Turkey Creek High Rocks.  The boys involved were roughly the same age as us and the situation was very similar with a large fire built under a rock overhang.  The dead boy had gone to sleep early wrapped in his bedding at the back of the overhang when a huge chunk of rock fell and killed him.  The other boys who were still up at the time managed to escape.  The story was widely disseminated all over Eastern Kentucky and for quite some time our parents would not allow us to camp at The Big Rocks. 

Antique Carbide Light

We also used to go into the woods at Christmas and New Years to shoot off fireworks where they elevation would allow the noise to be heard for quite a distance in all directions.  At times, we would even get our hands on a stick or two of dynamite and some blasting caps and shoot up to a quarter stick of dynamite at a time placed under large rocks or in the forks of trees to celebrate the holiday season.  In today's world, that obviously sounds like a highly dangerous past time and it was.  But in those days, you could buy dynamite and blasting caps at nearly every hardware store in the country if you were somewhere close to adulthood and appeared to have good sense and no malicious intent.  There were virtually no federal or state regulations on blasting materials at that time.  We also frequently shot carbide.  What I mean by that is that we would get a small amount of calcium carbide which was used in old fashioned mining lights.  You placed a small amount of carbide in the canister portion of the light, moistened it slightly, and the resultant gas would ooze out of the middle of the light reflector on top of the light where you lit it to produce a flame.  Coal miners used these to work underground for many years until the explosions they caused in gaseous mines caused them to be outlawed.  But, getting back to our game, you could also place a few grains of calcium carbide in a tin can with an airtight lid, moisten it, punch a nail hole in the bottom of the can, and when you lit the gas at the bottom of the can it would produce a small explosion which would blow the lid off the can and could also be heard for quite a distance.  It was fun but dangerous.  You had to stand with a foot on the can when you lit it to keep it from blowing randomly around and hurting anyone.  It was a lot of fun and to my knowledge no one ever got hurt in my area doing it. It was not smart and I must insert a disclaimer and warning here.  DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!  IT IS DANGEROUS AND CAN RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY OR EVEN DEATH!
 

We also would infrequently play another game at these camp outs which was even more dangerous and also requires a warning and disclaimer.  DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!  IT IS DANGEROUS AND CAN RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY OR EVEN DEATH!  When we were feeling extremely lucky, we would sometimes build up the campfire as large and hot as we could stand and play chicken with 22 caliber rifle shells.  We would stand in a circle with our backs to the campfire and throw in a handful of 22 caliber rifle shells.  The last person to run and hide won the game of chicken which was obviously highly dangerous and inadvisable.  When the game started, each person playing would choose their own tree or large rock to hide behind and run to it at what they hoped looked like the last second but was also well in advance of the first exploding rifle shell with it resultant blast of hot cinders. It got really interesting when two players had chosen the same tree or rock to hide behind.  Frequently, one or more boys in the group would just decide they were chicken, admit it, and go to hide before the game started which was actually the smartest approach to this game.  I also never knew of anyone in my area being injured by this game but it was played infrequently.  

Those are a few memories I had evoked by my snowy walk in the woods to the ridge top where my neighbors used to set up their television antennas.  I hope you have enjoyed this little walk down memory lane.