Soap Bubbles ~ 2

Happiness made easy is 

never really happiness. 

Happiness always comes 

as a surprise, at least for 

me. Like bubbles that 

sprout from those little 

plastic toys dipped in 

soapy water. To be very 

cynical, when happiness 

lands on your nose or an 

autumn leaf, it bursts. But the 

best thing? Dipping the toy 

in soapy water again blowing

a breath of life gently at the 

iridescent film to make more.

“Happiness is not something ready-made.  

It comes from your own actions.”

~ Dalai Lama

Soap Bubbles

Where are the words when I want 

them? If I close my eyes and rest 

my head back, they float through 

my mind like so many soap bubbles. 

Bubbles that pop, splashing my face

with impudence. It could a word, 

maybe two; a whole sentence, 

strung out with no end in sight. It’s 

then I realize I’m trying too hard 

and need to let them rest, or pop, or 

be carried away by a squirrel in need of

a story. It’s like so many other things, 

I don’t always get what I want.

“Don’t waste time waiting for inspiration. 

Begin, and inspiration will find you.”

~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Counting, Bubbles and Lessons

 While new baby sister slept there were lessons big sister had to teach great-grandma about fun:

1. If you throw cards ‘up to the sky’ - it’s fun to watch them fly all around even if you’re in the house.
2. If your hands get dirty outside - use the bubble water to wash your hands ~ and the slide.
3. Always pop the bubbles even if they are on great grandma’s hair.
4. Always be scared of earthworms - they might be snails.
5. When counting sidewalk stones, make sure great-grandma follows you and counts too.
6. When you get tired of counting the sidewalk stones - ‘let’s count the grass’ in really big steps.
7. Always smell the bubble water - it’s yukky - but maybe it tastes better. (It was yukky too and great grandma told me NO!)

I’m pretty sure I missed something, but I had to go home. I really needed a break!

“Childhood’s work is learning, and it is 

in his play…that the child works at his job.”

~ Caroline Pratt, I Learn from Children

Art and How to Play

I spent an hour with my Art and How to Play teacher this morning. As soon as her coat was off, she checked the toy cupboard and found ‘Bubbles!’ Immediately it was time for bubbles. After wet soapy liquid splashed floor, table and fridge, we moved that game outside to the back porch. Jumping and running around the porch, blowing bubbles, then popping them, laughing and excited. This would be repeated two or maybe three or four times. 

Art Class was a bit more ordered. More of a demand than a request she said ‘Colour with me.’ Sitting on the floor with her, I was asked what colour I wanted. If it was not to her liking - and that happened two of three times - I was told ‘No’ and was handed the correct colour. Although I thought I drew a pretty decent flower and house, the art teacher had a more abstract approach. One I’d never thought of before. Arch your wrist back, hold firmly to your marker and hit the tip on the board to create splashes and stripes in blue. With red, it is circles and doodles.The very faint face outlined in the lower right corner, I called a sideways face. With a grin she corrected me - ‘an angry face’. 

Finally concerned with washing off the ‘paper’ (my dry erase board), I gave her a wet rag. She did a swipe and went to get her train…..or was it the plastic fridge magnets?

Then it was time for bananas, orange juice and a cookie!

A good day all around.

“A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men.”

~ Roald Dahl

What Are They? - CHALLENGES ~ Theme for March 2020

"Conveniences have trapped……

Harbours full of …….

Absolution is not……..
Larger than life……

Little more than…..

Effervescence is……

Naively pushing on…..

Gallantly offering…..

Evermore, with humility……

Secure in the knowledge…….

“I have always grown from my problems and challenges, 

from the things that don’t work out, that’s when I’ve really learned.”

~ Carol Burnett

Catching Bubbles

Pictures of bubbles or bouncing balls not available!

To play with words

and ideas, like

following many 

bouncing balls that

pop and splash in your face

revealing themselves

as shiny bubbles merely

floating on errant breezes

with ephemeral qualities

when allowed to land 

gently in your hand

to tell a story,

write an essay or

tap out this silly muse, 

is really a lot of fun!

“Two bubbles found they had rainbows on their curves. 

They flickered out saying: “It was worth being a bubble, 

just to have held that rainbow thirty seconds.””

~ Carl Sandburg

Face Painting

Inspiration

A ray of sunshine

Bubbling and bursting

Splashing coloured ideas

Wet on our faces.

“Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.”

~ Bob Dylan

Don’t forget!  March is Epilepsy month with Purple Day for Epilepsy on March 26 each year.

If only I could catch them........!

How many words come 

in my head in a day?

As many as starfish 

found in a bay!

Words float into my view

and then they float out.

No matter the task

they’re always about.

When washing the dishes

or scrubbing the floor,

they hide in the bubbles

and slip out the door.

When mowing the grass 

with a blade that is sharp

words sing through my head

like the sound of a harp.

When weeding the flowers

where butterflies go,

words ride on their backs

then sit on my nose!

When driving the car,

at work or at play,

a light will turn green

and the words are away.

Words perch in the trees.

They stand up on rocks.

Words nest in my hair

while I'm taking a walk.

Words dive in the water

and swim with the ducks.

They slip through sea weed ~

to catch them....good luck!

Oh, what shall I do 

with these words that are mine?

Should I string them in 

sentences, story or rhyme?

“Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes and prism

are all very good words for the lips”.

~ Charles Dickens