I am not exactly sure how my basement laboratory came into being. Piece by piece I created a small, private work space. I am surprised that my parents allowed it. Maybe they were not aware of all the things I did there. It was in an ideal location. It was cool most of the time and it was out of the way. Sometimes I would go downstairs and work for hours trying to drill holes in glass or wire-up a newly found electronic schematic. It was my entertainment center.I created my laboratory with make-shift items. A Dry Farmer is good at making-do with what is available. Our home was a small split-level, built with cinder block. I drilled two holes through the cinder block wall, a wall my basement laboratory shared with an attached root cellar. Then, using those holes, I put two 12 inch long bolts through the wall to anchor a small homemade bookshelf to the wall. That bookcase held my prize possessions.
I painted dark green paint on the wall near the bookcase so that I had a small chalkboard. It was not fancy but it let me draw and scheme to my heart's content. I used a large plywood surface as my worktable. And for my chemistry experiments I constructed a large boxed-in area with a Plexiglas viewing window...to minimize exposure to hazardous fumes (it was not very effective). I collected radioactive materials (from uranium ore to special radioactive sources from science supply companies).
I played with marigolds, electric arcs, all sorts of batteries, motors, capacitors and circuits, dry ice, hydrochloric acid, blow torches, chemistry sets, microscopes, rocks and minerals, cloud chambers, model rocket motors, propellers, and glass. I had an insatiable interest in science and the unknown...although it was difficult for me to complete projects...my interest easily wandered, moving from one project to another if something unusual caught my attention.
I was not successful in creating white marigolds, but I did watch trails created by subatomic particles; I did not build any exotic electronic projects, but I did make my own rocket fuel.
I had fun. I played.
I did have some thrilling moments in my laboratory, and I am lucky that the accidents I had did not burn down the house or poison someone living there (I was careful with my radioactive materials and chemicals).
Looking back on my last few years living at home, that basement laboratory was my home.
