Just back from a senior awards night presentation with Gabe and Diane.. Gabe and his friends got recognized for several things which made us very proud.. it was nice to see Gabe recognized for their academic work .. what I loved even more was seeing that his teachers and peers recognize that he’s a really nice guy. .. we already knew that ! We are very proud of you my son ! Congrats to you and all your friends that got recognized tonight !
nite all. nite sam
-me
Happy 19th birthday Gabriel Mariano Cohn.. I am so pleased, grateful and proud to be your dad !
19 years old.. hard to beleive.. but then again.. it’s not. I’ve really enjoyed watchign thsi kid mature into a fine man. He’s funny, smart, strong and quick.. and a really, really nice guy. So nice in fact, thathe went on a hike withcme and dine today.. We headed up preston pond trail up to libys lookout.. it was hot muggy and buggy.. but look at that smile anyway.. that’s Gabe !
we found about 7 places with pitcher plants on our hike.. which was pretty cool !
the trails were still wet.. 
the dogs were so hot that they jumped in whatever water they could find.
i was digging aroun in the backback we were carrying.. it was sams.. and I found this cool badge that they’d given Sam on his birthday when we spent it at Disney.. it was great finding it on Gabes birthday .
aroudn 7 gabe raya. diane and I headed out to Sushi Do for gabes birthday dinner.. Yummy sushi !
then home for presents and cake..
a really nice day.. for a really. really nice kid
Happy birthday my son.. I’m so proud of you..
nite all. nite sam
-me
I was pretty grumpy this morning. It was hot , (80,) muggy and buggy.. and that;stard on me. It never needs to be above 60 for me.. Anyway.. I wasn’t sure what to do today… everything looked like a big job.. I decided to tackle a job that was inside. Ny home office was getting to be a pretty crowded tangle of print outs, microprocessors, sensors, dishes and conference trinkets. I decided to get a plow in there and clean it out. I was looking or some grumpy cleaning music and went to one of my old standby’s.. my favorite songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Townes was a singer / songwriter from Houston Tx (where I grew up) who has always been one of my favorites. I got turned on to him when I bought all the cassettes off a record store that was goign out of business back in 1975.. I was lucky enough to see Townes play quite a few times back in Texas.. He even took a hit out of one of my beers at a place called Anderson Faire in Houston.. He was staggering drunk at the time…. He was always drunk or high.. he had a life long struggle with addiction.. He died in 1997 of heart failure at age 52. By that time.. he was relativly poor and unknown, thogu his songs had been recorded by folks liek Willie Nelson. Kris Kristofersons,. Emily lou Harris, Doc Watson..
Anyway.. I wet on YouTube to find some old Townes tracks to do my cleaning and I came across a movie called “Be Hear to Love Me” about Townes life. it was made by a woman named Margaret Brown.. I’d never heard of the movie.. but I put it on as I cleaned. It was so amazing to get the life story of this guy who’s music has inspired me since I was in high school. It was a sad story .. mental illness, alcohol addiction drug addiction, money problems.. but also a story about a guy who was loved by his many friends.. and a guy who loved them back. I had really no idea of the struggles he’d been through.. If’ you’re a Townes fan.. i recommend the movie..
actually. if you’re a Townes fan, please let me know.. I always wonder why my favorite musician of all time is known by so few people.
If you don’t have time for the movie.. I understand.. check out a few of his songs.
here’s ‘If I needed you’
Here’s one of my favorites.. ‘Rake’
i was deeply touched by watching that movie.. and hearing that music again.. That cleared my mood..
which was good.. because we had a busy afternoon. Gabe’s Lacrosse banquet was at 4..
Coach Bucky and Ryan called the players up and said nice things about them all. I was very proud of Gabe !!!!.
the kids gave te coaches than you gift..
then it was over ! This was our last official act as kids sporting parents.. at least until grandkids 🙂 I got pretty choked up. Both Sam and Gabe played lacrossee.. and this sport, this team, these kids and these coaches have become so important to us over the years.. .. thank you all for that !
nite all. note sam
-me
We had a beautifully un-programmed day.. Gabe and I took advantage to catch up on some pyrotechnic projects we’d had going . the main one was to build a set of ‘sugar rockets’ .. I used to make these when I was a kid..
The basic idea is to mix sugar (here sorbital, a sugar alcohol used as a sweetener) and potassium nitrate.. aka ‘saltpeter’ .. The recipe we’re using today calls for a pinch of Iron (III) oxide as an acceerant.. which seemed to work well
first step was to mill the chemicals.. (separately .. of course !)..
then mix them, screen them , then screen them again..
Next we pounded
Next we pounded
in dry bentonite clay as a nozzle plug
after that came about 3 inches of the sugar/ nitrate mix.. pounded in as well (safe-ish to pound this stuff.. but most oxidizer/fuel blends I wouldn’t pound !)
then another bentonite plug.. as soon as that was done, it was time to drill the nozzle
then it was time to core the fuel, first with a guide, then free form using a 12 inch long 1/4 inch bit fitted with a stop and turned by hand.
then it was ready to go.. we then put in a 6 inch vesco fuse wrapped in tape to allow ignition near the top of the drilled core..
and here’s what happened
beautiful first shot.. we fired 3 more through the day.. all successful ! i’m guessing 400 – 500 feet ? not bad for such a heavy thing ! very satisfying slow burn and rich ‘woooooosh’ sound with great white plume
we found the first rocket buried about 3 inches in the ground.. it was coming down pretty fast !!!
a bit later, soem friends came over for an early celebration of gabes birthday.. we did soem more fire stuff. including two more successful smoke rings.. (will have to wait for folks to send me their movies of those)
Chai didnt like the sound or smell of firestuff.. we found her hiding behind the laundry.. so cute and sad.. so sorry chai baby !
then birthday stuff.. Very nice friends this boy has !
nice night !
ok.. now for sleep
nite all, nite sam
-me