A Post About Bubbles

As I write this I am sitting in my garden enjoying what can only be described as a glorious Saturday morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the general tranquillity is punctuated only by the delighted sounds of Little Proclaims who is running around the garden making bubbles with a cheap plastic toy that I believe is known as a ‘bubble sword’ (not to be confused with a ‘bubble wand’, which is a similar but different bubble-making device). The ‘bubble sword’ is very much a manual bubble-making tool; we have experimented with automated devices too, which are lots of fun, but which tend to use up batteries at a rate that seems immoral. It is a sign of Little Proclaims’ continuing development that she now has the motor skills to operate the ‘bubble sword’ herself, although not entirely without calamity, and quite a lot of the bubble mixture has ended up on the ground without ever having had the chance to fulfil its destiny as, y’know, bubbles. Alas Little Proclaims has yet to grasp the concept that the bubble mixture is not water and so whenever such a calamity arises she does demand that I replace the lost mixture directly from the tap. Although I have had to disappoint her in this regard, I did not purchase the bubble sword without making sure I had ample supplies of the bubble-making elixir. I once naively thought you could recreate this magic potion with the aid of washing up liquid, but, while that will produce a serviceable alternative, a bubble connoisseur could always tell the difference and Little Proclaims is just such a connoisseur.

It will, of course, no longer be Saturday, when this post ‘goes live’ because I am attempting to make up for my recent absence from the blogosphere by writing a few advance posts in order to ensure that I maintain a minimum of a twice-weekly blogging schedule. If all goes to plan the world will have already witnessed my triumphant return to blogging on Monday and this post will consolidate my return when it airs on Thursday. I have no idea what the weather will be like on Thursday but whether it is as pleasant as today or not, I will not be in the garden supervising my bubble-obsessed daughter. I will instead be at work. There may still be supervision of children required, given that I work in a school, but they will be older children and not as easily placated by bubbles. Although, thanks to the ongoing, and somewhat ineffective Covid strategy recommended for schools, bubbles of a different kind will still be in effect. Most likely on Thursday I will be alone in an office, either failing to complete paperwork or in some kind of virtual meeting which will ultimately achieve nothing.

Given that rather grim prognosis, I fully intend to make the most of today’s nice weather and my small, but perfectly functional garden, to spend some quality time making bubbles with my daughter.

Carpe diem, as some bloke called Horace used to say.