26 – Bubbles

Help! Please check your Spam folders because the Word Press Gnomes selected me to celebrate the new year.

A belated Happy New Year. May your 2021 be positive and joyful. After the walk, don’t forget about the links to what some other bloggers have posted about bubbles.

Click the video above for 2 minutes of background waves while reading.

I like walking on the beach. It is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

Standing at the water’s edge provides an interesting sound. Besides the roar and splashing of the waves coming ashore and the whistling of the persistent wind, I can hear the popping of bubbles from the foam in the wave’s finality before retreating to the sea. As I stand, I can also feel the bubbles popping on my feet. So, today I focus my thoughts on bubbles.

Photo by alleksana on Pexels.com

Bubbles – the white, foamy part of a wave visibly forming as a wave approaches. Bubbles – a thin transparent film of water covering a pocket of gas. Bubbles – a word we associate with fizz, effervescence, sparkles, gurgles, lather, foam, and froth. 

Bubbles are shiny, round, and playful – precious, dreamy, and fragile – soft, lovable, and a sign of joy. Bubbles can burst, pop, squeak, bubble over, and bubble up. Difficult situations can also put someone on the bubble. 

Except when they are a negative sign, bubbles are fun orbs of beauty that stimulate numerous thoughts. Bubbles are about happiness and smiles. “Bubbles” is a happy word. People say the word and a smile appears. Besides, bubbles is a word that is difficult to say with an angry or negative tone.

Thoughts of bubbles take us back in time as we think of the young. I wonder what aspect of a bubble attracts kids? Is it their shape, the sudden appearance, the colors of the rainbow in their skin, their temporary existence, their ability to merge, or something else?

Photo by Anni Roenkae on Pexels.com

Bubbles capture the attention of the young, so the older enjoy creating bubbles with a gentle blow. But all ages smile when seeing giant bubbles. Blowing bubbles is fun and a release from reality. As blowers try different techniques for creating different sizes, the observers admire the similarities and differences. No wonder bubbles are a teaching tool. 

As we get older, we may see bubbles as thoughts, dreams, aspirations, and fantasies. We also link bubbles to emotions and personalities with descriptors as bubbly and bubbling over. 

Bubbles are like life – fun, dreamy, and care-free moments that can burst at any time – just like a sudden slap of reality. Bubbles are the temporary thoughts that suddenly vanish.

Many of us have childhood memories of blowing bubbles with bubble gum – that gnashing of teeth leading to the giggles of a bubble bursting on a face. The gum eventually loses flavor, and then teachers remind us to throw it away. After all, bubble gum in the hair or on clothes is no fun – even the bottom of shoes from an accidental step. Then again, we dream of blowing a bubble big enough to carry us away to a new land.

We can see bubbles in a variety of places – as in frozen in an ice cube or popping at the surface of lava in the volcano’s caldron – coming to the surface in a still pond or an intentional aeration in aquaria. Nature uses bubbles for catching prey, nesting eggs, protection, and flotation – yet they are also very evident at the bottom of waterfalls and water moving quickly over rocks in a fast-flowing stream.    

Photo by Anthony on Pexels.com

Sometimes we place our lives in a bubble as we forget the importance and role of other people in our life. While some of us remember the story of The Boy in the Bubble, we know that is not a life we desire.

Who doesn’t have fond memories of a bubble bath with foam covering a rubber ducky or the bubbles in a glass to sip as we relax in the warm water of a tub or spa? Some say popping bubbles in bubble wrap has a therapeutic value. 

Bubbles are a sign of boiling, we know we don’t want a messy stovetop from the pot bubbling over – yet, bubbling over with excitement at good news or anticipation is a good thing.

Bubbles are rainbows with curves that contain dreams. Unfortunately, bubbles are fragile, temporary, and suddenly gone – but a positive memory.

Bubbles when washing dishes don’t grab my attention because I expect them – but their absence is a sign of being a time to do something different. 

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Bubbles are part of many beverages – soft drinks, soda, beer, and sparkling wines to name a few. Their presence helps deliver a certain taste, so their absence is noticeable. Wines and many spirits may not be bubbly, but bubbles were a sign of active fermentation during their production.  

We of an older generation associate bubbles with the music of Lawrence Welk and his champagne music. We even hear Don Ho singing, Tiny bubbles – In the wine. Make me happy. Make me feel fine. 

As I stand looking across the water, I wonder about all the bubbles that are below the water’s surface for a variety of reasons. Somewhere out there, a scuba diver is enjoying the underwater world and releasing bubbles into the water that will come to the surface to pop. Meanwhile, I’ll settle on enjoying the small bubbles popping on my feet. After all, I enjoy walking on the beach because it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have posted about bubbles

• In a Bubble (poem)
• Soap Bubbles (photo collection)
• Abstract Bubble (painting)
• Bubble (poem)
• Bubbling Gerbena (photos and essay)
• Bubble Gum (poem)

Next Post: Sunset – Tuesday 12 January @ 1 AM (Eastern US)

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