This is a story written by my son for a web site we did together. Ian was seven years old when this "adventure" took place. His father and I divorced and it was an especially difficult time for Ian. Some friends of mine are brothers who remember well the fun they had as little boys and thought that sharing some of their fun childhood experiences with Ian might get him through this difficult time. The photos attached were taken on one adventure as part of this sharing experience. We went to Lake Isabella in Southern California in the early spring of 1999. I took the photographs, Ian wrote the story. I was grateful to two brothers who remembered their boyhood.

I like to shoot off rockets with my friends. This is the first rocket. We shot it off in a very big field. This is Me and Mom, before shooting off the rocket at Lake Isabella. You have to have an adult help you, but it is fun!
	The picture on the left is when the rocket is ready to go. We lost the nose cone to this one in the field. Maybe the gophers got it!
The picture on the right is me reading the instructions. It is very important to know what you're doing.
	Me and my buddies had to walk a long way to find the right spot!
Then we talked about where the best spot would be. You have to think about the wind direction to know where it is going to come down.
	The rocket finally launched. The first shot went very high. It was a blast, hee hee.

submitted by Pat James
California, USA
January 2001