Ancestral Fishpond antics - Aklan, Philippines.
I know I’ve written about fishermen and fishponds already, but the highlight I want to showcase here isn’t actually the the pond or fishermen, but the ingenuity of the Filipino people.
Two highly creative endeavours seen here are the three-story treehouse currently being built and designed by my Uncle Denis, along with the improvised rifle held by my uncle’s friend Michael. Though the treehouse is quite the sight to behold (taking the place of the old treehouse I’ve highlighted in one of my much older stories*, which was unfortunately swept away by a typhoon), the thing I found most interesting during this visit was the improvised rifle cobbled together with an old pipe for the stock and barrel; wood for the body’s frame; an old lighter serving as the trigger; and toy marbles used as the ammo.
As explained to me by Michael, the way this rifle works is you first spray butane onto the green cap, then you load a toy marble into the barrel. Once you spark the lighter (aka. pull the trigger), the spark created ignites the butane and the marble goes flying with surprising distance and accuracy.
Seen here: my Uncle Denis’ friend Michael showing off their improvised rifle at our collectively owned family fishpond.
Fun Fact: contrary to my initial assumption, this rifle isn’t used to keep intruders away; rather, to shoot at birds trying to steal fish. During the night, when it’s relatively difficult to see the birds, they will actually shoot the marble into the air and the loud bang will scare the birds off; thereby continuing to protect the growing fish.
-create cool stuff.
