Chemistry Is Fun.

The boy bounds into the house yesterday evening with his buddy from down the road close behind.

"Hey, Dad. Will you help us do some chemistry?"

"What kind of chemistry?"

"Something that goes boom. Is rubbing alcohol violently flammable? Can we put some in a bottle to light it and see what happens?"

"Boom? Sometimes. No. You have not known Zach long. I do not think his parents would take it well if you torched him so soon. How about something that goes boom with no flames. We don't have any dry ice right now, but there are other things we can use."

Zach: "How about vinegar and baking soda?"

Me: "Yeah, that'd be great! We have some around here somewhere. Keep it on the driveway. Clean up when you are done."

Them: "Yeah! Let's go!"

A few minutes later they pulled me outside to show me the cool boom you get from soda bottles loaded up and slammed into the pavement.

Skip to this morning.

"Hey, Nelson?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember your chemistry experiments from last night?"

"Yeah?"

"You need to write that up today so it counts for a science class."

"OK"