Tale as Old as Time / Skull, Revisited and Adorned

It is indeed true that I have probably gone overboard with this whole frozen bubble experiment. But I am a person who can delve deep into a thing. And so I do. Our ultra-cold snap has certainly encouraged me: the reading on the thermometer was 15 when I went out into the yard with my bubbles, and 19 when I came back in.

I took along some props, including one I should never have taken: my glass rose under a dome, which is a treasured, treasured possession. There are so many fairy tales it speaks of, but none more sweet than the one it chiefly reminds me of, which is to say: Beauty and the Beast.

I envisioned my rose encased in frozen bubbles in the snow. I knew it wasn't wise, but I put the glass rose in my plastic container, along with a blue paperweight, a small fancy blue plate, a crystal prism, and an ornament stand to hang it from. 

Awaiting outside on one of my stumps was that deer skull my husband found and presented me with last spring during a windy hike up on Sandy Ridge. Somehow, I couldn't resist the thought of trying to blow bubbles onto it to come up with some weird scene that somehow celebrated life, and beauty, even among the accoutrements of death.

I mentioned the other day - in the pictures from the second night bubble photo shoot - that none of the skull photos would see the light of day. Well, I guess I've changed my mind, for in the extras, you may see a shot of a frozen bubble on the skull.

Here is a thing I have learned: it is WAY harder than you might think to blow bubbles onto a skull with antlers! You have to look out or you get poked with an antler in the eye. Oh the perils of outdoor adventure photography; how I suffer for my craft! ;-)

And now back to the rose under the glass dome. I have warned you on these pages NEVER to take anything precious with you on an outdoor photo shoot that might shatter and break your heart. Well, we almost had a tragedy with the little rose.

I put the rose on the stump, covered the base with snow, and began blowing bubbles onto it. The bubbles sort of refused to go on TOP of it like I wanted, but they did cluster around it nicely, and began to freeze, and I got some pretty good shots, with the light behind my rose.

Eventually, I finished up with the little rose, and I took it and placed it - all covered in soapy gunk - into my container to go back indoors. I continued shooting photos of other frozen bubbles, and I looked back at the rose. Suddenly, it appeared to me that the glass had cracked and the dome had been ruined! Oh no. I was hoist with my own petard. I am the one who did it to myself. Woe is me. Then I truly felt stupid.

But a minute or two later, I carefully picked up the rose, and I began wiping the slime away from it. For this soap bubble mix is messy business, my friends. And as I wiped and wiped, the soap bubble scum came off, and I realized it was just some trick of the light. The glass dome was fine, the glass rose was fine, everything was fine! HOORAY!!!! 

(I also carefully wrapped the rose in its dome in a damp cloth, and let it warm up naturally when I took it back indoors - running warm water onto it while it was so cold would surely have cracked it! Careful is as careful does.) So that was the story of my frozen bubble adventures with the rose and the skull. 

And now I need some songs. Let me divulge for you first, though, that my two favorite Disney princesses are Belle, from Beauty and the Beast (a bookish gal who fell for a guy with a great library), and Mulan (a gal who put on her father's armor, went to war, and saved China, with the aid of a couple of adorable sidekicks, including a cricket and a tiny dragon). Belle in particular reminds me of me, as I myself have always been a bookish girl and a lover of gorgeous libraries. So my one soundtrack song is Tale as Old as Time, from Beauty and the Beast. I've picked a second favorite tune as well: Bette Midler and Wynonna Judd, with The Rose.

P.S. Here's a bonus link to another rose-inspired tale. One of my favorite parts of the book The Little Prince is the chapter about the fox and his rose, so here is a link to that. Because of the color of the wheat fields. . . .

As always, here's a link to my bubble making tips.