Magic Kingdom/The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

We had about 14 degrees F in our yard when I went out to make some frozen bubbles. The air was still, the light was good, and I had all of my usual tools, plus a few toys I threw in just for fun: a little crystal ball and stand, a Kokopelli (flute player) figure, and a small castle with a crystal on it. The shot above is called The Magic Kingdom; the one in the extras is called The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

This was the first time I really made an effort to include props in my photos, and the experience gave me a few learnings to share. First, don't take anything outdoors that you will be broken-hearted if you break it or get it all sticky with bubble mix. For these are freaky-cold temperatures and everything is so brittle, it shatters very easily.

Second, blow your bubble first, THEN place your item beside it. Third, place your item gently but firmly into the snow, without touching the bubble. Fourth, prepare yourself to dig your items out of the snow they fall into, if they do (they will), and believe you me, the rescue dogs will never find them!

I had very mixed feelings about the little crystal ball that I played with as a bubble base. It did some amazing things with the light, including reflecting back our (yellow) house in nearly every shot. In fact, it was so pretty, it outclassed some of my bubbles, which wasn't my intention! So - file that under: Hmmm?

Now, I want to tell you this, but I'm almost afraid to, because maybe you'll think I'm a crazy person. But at a certain point, I had about five or six bubbles going, all in a pile (because they kept sliding down my base and misbehaving, but hey, whatever), and I was taking pictures.

And the pictures were getting better and better, and I started to see SHAPES appearing on the outside of the bubbles, and I discerned that they had meaning. They looked like . . . words to me, and I suddenly realized that I was looking at God's handwriting!

For God writes his name in all the beautiful, complex, amazing, gorgeous, glorious things of this world. Which includes science, and nature, and art, and physics, and all of it is consonant, and non-contradictory, each being just one variety or another of the great and powerful magic (or moving force, call it what you will) that makes the spheres SING!

And as I was looking at it, trying to read the words - POP! - went my bubbles, and it was all gone, except that feeling of delight and almost-understanding. So yeah, I went out for bubbles, but I came back with so much more. . .

I have two photos, so let's have two songs. First, here is a song to celebrate the glory of creation: Fernando, Ortega, with Creation Song. And here is a song for Kokopelli, my flute player at the gates of dawn: Pink Floyd, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (yes, the link is to the full album).

A link to my canonical source of tips for frozen bubble making.