Ice Gold to Cool the Flames / Stained Glass Bubble

Note: This posting is in honor of my friends in California who are going through some very tough times right now. One of my friends lost EVERYTHING to the fires this past week, and I can't even imagine that. The level of suffering there - among humans AND all other creatures - is mind-boggling and heart-breaking.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot I can do from central Pennsylvania to be of direct help. But I promised my friend I would make something for her; that I would make her some art out of the pain. She is a fan of my cold-weather postings, especially the ice. Where she lives, she does not get to see the frigid beauties I get to see. She longs for them; longs for coolness; longs for ice.

It may sound like a silly or meaningless or trite response, but I am one to keep my promises. Mindfully, with a full heart, I make and send these ice bubbles.This posting is for my friend, and for all who are suffering; for all who have lost so much. We are grateful for all of the fire fighters who are heroes on the scene, providing help and relief. We pray for the fires to end.

It was 17 degrees F and overcast in central Pennsylvania when I got up on this morning. I'd checked the weather forecast the night before. It was to be very cold and calm, with hardly any wind. Good weather for bubbles.

I've noticed I get more spin on the surface colors of the bubbles when the mix is freshly made, so I took my leftover bubble mix and I added some of everything: more dish detergent (Palmolive), more water, more corn syrup (just a touch). I grabbed a tiny hand warmer, stuck it in my pocket, went outside.

The implements I took along included a hydrangea bloom painted gold (got my thumb-nail painted gold that time I sprayed it), a couple of plastic snowflakes, some tiny red candy canes and glass candies, a butterfly bracelet, a golden butterfly bookmark, two colorful fish made of ribbon, and a rosary (no sacrilege intended; and yes, you read that right: a rosary that I bought at the Grange Fair).

Above is one of my better shots showing the crystals that form on the bubbles. They form on all sides, which means that when you photograph a bubble, you are often shooting through several layers of crystals. The gold really seemed to shine.

In the extras is one of my best shots of the rosary. It is one of those circular kind with 10 nobs on it, for saying prayers, with Jesus on the cross on the one end. The circular part worked beautifully for blowing bubbles onto, and I got some really nice stained glass window type colors on the top, which somehow seemed quite appropriate.

It's been snowing here just a little bit about every day or two, so the ground and everything was white. The bright sunlight never really arrived to give me some shine on my bubbles, or to light up my crystals. Without shadows or darkness on my landscape, there wasn't much contrast in my background to make my crystals pop.

A friend of mine who is a fan of Masaru Emoto's book The Hidden Messages in Water had suggested the last time I did one of these shoots that I might see if saying affirmations to the water might encourage more crystal formation.

And so I did think of that, but I felt surprisingly tongue-tied about speaking things out loud, even in my own backyard. The neighbor's chickens started squawking and I felt self-conscious. (Yeah, I know, right? Silly girl.) I asked for further guidance from her on that.

Now, just a moment about the fish. The fish . . . were so confused. They knew they were starring in something but they did not know what their motivation should be. They just seemed listless. Maybe they need some kind of support system. Maybe they just don't like snow.

My dish detergent was Palmolive, and when I super-saturate the shots, it glows green on the landscape. This is kind of fun, and almost Martian looking. At these temperatures, the bubbles go to opaque very fast. Once they are opaque, they are brittle, and all you have to do is blow on them to pop them instantly.

My mix went flat at one point and I could not blow a single bubble for a bit. Somehow I forgot to bring a little container of extra dish detergent as booster for my mix. I'll do better next time. In the end, it started to flurry, and the flurries landed on my bubbles, popping them. So that was my signal that it was time to go in! Also, having a tiny hand warmer in my pocket was very nice!

So that was the story of the 7th frozen bubble episode of this winter. I hope you enjoy the photos. I also hope this posting gives my friend a little boost as she deals with what she has to deal with in California. It's not much but it is something I can do: I can use my heart and hands to draw attention to your plight; to wish you well; or at least, to give you something pretty to distract you from your pain.

It's my tradition to include soundtrack songs, and so I've got a few. One of my favorite movies about California is The Lost Boys, and so my first song is from that soundtrack: Cry Little Sister, by Gerard McMahon. For my friend: we see and hear your tears, and your suffering, and your loss, and we cry with you.

Now, my second shot includes Jesus and the stained glass reflections, and so I need a Jesus song. I was raised Methodist ( = must love Jesus and own a 9" by 13" pan!) so I'm ready for that! Here are two personal favorites, as I could not decide between them. So you're getting them both. Here is Johnny Cash, covering Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus. (Johnny presents it as a gospel song, of course.) And here is Jackson Browne, with The Rebel Jesus.

As always, here is a link to my canonical list of frozen bubble tips.