Reason To Live Across The Street From Your Cousin

My cousin and I didn’t care what you saw in the Lord of the Ring, Gladiator, Chronicles of Narnia, Night at the Museum or King Arthur; we designed a catapult for the common kid. And it had potential to get us in more trouble than we could have ever imagined.

I’m sure the few of you that are reading this have a preconceived notion of what a catapult may look like from the movies you’ve seen

Those complicated machines are cumbersome, confusing and expensive for a couple of 9 year old boys. In spite of these drawbacks, catapults can be the ultimate neighborhood weapon capable of hurling any number of things at any number of things.

At least, that’s what my cousin, Kit Thompson and I thought when we designed our first catapults anchored in our respective front yards aimed at each other’s house, across Jerome Ave. in Elberon Park, NJ.

The idea was to get the rocks that were part of the railroad bed underlying the track upon which all the commuter train ran from the Jersey Shore to New York City everyday. An unending supply of ammunition.