A Bubbly August
One of joys of writing for children is researching different topics. I’ve gained greatly from my need to provide verisimilitude to my stories such as life as a homesteader during Idaho’s gold rush days, habits of nocturnal animals, the life and times of dragonflies. My favorite research is for my recent project. I concocted a premise combining a short mystery with simple household science experiments. One of those experiments involves bubbles. I am a huge fan of bubbles.
Whenever I visited my granddaughter, I always brought along bubbles. I included that aspect in my picture book Someday We Will and illustrator Wendy Leach caught the joy of bubble blowing quite well.
Store bought bubbles are handy and dandy, but I have heard of tales that super-duper bubbles are possible. This was undoubtedly going to take some research.
I explored a variety of recipes on a multitude of sites. I discovered there is a definite camp of adding glycerin over sugar to obtain longer-lasting bubbles. I don’t keep glycerin on hand, but enough sugar (for my hummingbird nectar recipe) to concoct a batch of my own super-duper bubbles. While the debate goes on about glycerin versus sugar as an additive, it is fairly much decided that Dawn Dish Soap is the best base for the bubble potion. Not sure why, but it’s our brand of choice for dishes, so that saved a trip to the store.
The results?
Wow!
The bubbles truly do last longer. They are also shinier with an iridescent rainbow sheen.
When I need a quick break from typing up stories, I often go in the backyard and take a bubble break. I’ve tried out a few different wands and my favorite at the moment is the rings off of my bulk mouthwash. It’s a three-ringer and two of the rings fit in my bubble bucket, with the third as a handle. Plump bubbles are a result.
IIIItIMy science sleuth wants to know why bubbles blow out round, even when the wand is a different shape, such as a square. I had to research for that answer as well.
Do you know why? Hint: there is a connection to water bugs.
Hope you find some bubble time. You are never too old to enjoy a bubble session.
Pam Webb 
You need a bubble-pipe! In fact, I need one! And I’m not kidding. I want a good old-fashioned bubble-pipe, and when people see me working on my next post and ask, “How’s it going?” I’ll reply, “This is a three-bubble-pipe piece.”
I like how you embrace the bubble life, Geo!