Dear Reader:
I bought a lot of Christmas bubble night lights for the grandchildren and friends this holiday because these night lights hold so many fond memories for me from my childhood.
* This bubble nightlight is plugged into the socket by the mirror in my dining room….I love watching the bubbles flow while I eat meals.
My first remembrance of bubble lights was watching them bubble on the Christmas tree and thinking that was the most exciting thing I had ever seen as a child. It made the tree come alive for the first time!
Bubble lights first arrived on the scene in time for the Christmas season of 1946. The inventor had samples ready earlier but couldn’t mass produce them until after the war…because the chemical liquids inside were strictly rationed until World War II was over.
To the inventor it was a special way to celebrate the first Christmas- with fathers, sons, uncles, (etc.) – home with their families. It was an instant success!
It wasn’t until later in the fifties that the turn socket night lights evolved. I remember mother bought one for our two bedrooms. I had a single bed in mother’s and my shared bedroom, while my brothers shared another bedroom.
We fell asleep each night with that wonderful bubble light bubbling away. *I would sneak out of my little single bed and sit on the floor beside it mesmerized by the sense of peace it brought me…actually lulling me to sleep. Mother would find me some mornings sleeping on the floor. Oh, how I loved that bubble light.
She let them stay on until they usually gave out around summertime and didn’t bubble any more. We were heart-broken but she promised that Santa would bring us one again that next Christmas if we were all good. (Tall order!)
I remember hearing a quote that said “One simply can’t be unhappy while blowing bubbles.” There is definitely a lot of truth to that…even if we don’t blow bubbles, but simply watch them in aquariums or bubbly fountains…even the bubbles that sometime washe up on shore. The pool is our favorite place for blowing bubbles.
*And like Anne added, bubbles from a champagne bottle and glass aren’t bad either!
***Also bubbles are popular at weddings too!
One therapeutic article on the act of blowing bubbles said that many adults admit thinking of the bubbles they are blowing as worries and it is a nice feeling to watch their anxieties pop or simply disappear.
Earlier, Aurelia posted a wonderful little piece entitled “Bubbles” and since I myself, LOVE bubbles, I had to read it.
She gave the most wonderful suggestion of giving bubbles to children. I loved the idea. I went to the store on my lunch break and bought an eight pack. I gave one to the cashier there to give to any child she chose, as suggested in Aurelia’s post, which made her smile. I also have been giving them out to small children who come in the bank. They are thrilled to receive them. It gives me joy to see how happy it makes them to receive such a small gift. One little boy did a dance right there. I asked him if that was his happy dance. He told me it was. I told him I would dance too if someone gave me bubbles. It was a wonderful exchange.
Children have so much to teach us! All we have to do is pay attention to the small lessons and then apply what we have learned into our daily life. Let us all have the joy of little children. Hold on to your sense of wonder. BLOW BUBBLES and be overjoyed in their beauty as they float heavenward.
You know, you can put your troubles inside of those bubbles and watch them float out of sight. It really does work. Give it a try. You have to really let it go. That’s the only hard part. As you blow the bubble, envision your troubles going out of your body, carried out on your breath, filling the bubble and floating out of your sight, out of your concern, and out of your soul. Feel the weight leave you. You will feel lighter.
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In another article, titled “Bubbles” Annette Walwyn Michael, used this word of scripture as an analogy between bubbles and our lives.
“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
James 4:14
(Excerpts from article) The Apostle James used vapor or bubbles as metaphor for how quickly our lives pass. God sees our life spans as bubbles that are here for only a few fleeting moments.
“Our beautiful homes, gardens, clothes, shoes, careers, quarrels and misunderstandings, our ambitions are all in the light of eternity…just bubbles. Yet don’t we try so hard to keep our bubbles from popping around us?”
“We work night and day to beautify our little bubbles, install security systems to protect our bubbles from thieves, we have cleaning services keep our bubbles gleaming and spotless (I wish!)
“Then we fill our bubbles with many expensive vaporous spheres. There they float in God’s sight, like vapor, that appears for only a short time and then vanishes.”
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The last article does remind us of the fragility of life doesn’t it? The most important decisions we make daily should not be as much about this life as the next one…doing what needs to be done…and prepare. One great suggestion comes from Mister Rogers, himself.
*Speaking of preparing…what a difference a day makes! I woke up yesterday…got all my tax information organized and typed up, called my tax service and got a 2:30 appointment! I am done, finished, BIG CHECK by that “to do” item!
I texted Anne and told her I needed to celebrate…she came over and we ate burgers and fries…glorious way to commemorate a ‘done deed’!!! (For another year!)
We were laughing about yesterday being both Groundhog Day and National Tater Tot Day (we substituted fries) Growing up Catholic Anne added two more commemorations from her childhood memories.
February 2: Feast of the Presentation: Candlemas
Every year Christians celebrate the Feast of the Presentation, also called Candlemas. This day honors Mary and Joseph presenting the Christ child at the Temple, 40 days after his birth.
Today-February 3: Blessing of the Throats
Anne remembers the students would be marched out of school and walked over to the Catholic church for this ceremony.
| Saint Blase was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His cult spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fishbone in his throat. From the eighth century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat. | ” |
Details regarding the miraculous healing of the boy vary. One account relates that the miracle occurred during the journey to take Blaise to prison when he placed his hand on the boy’s head and prayed; another that the miracle happened while Blaise was in prison when he picked up two candles provided to him and formed a cross around the boy’s throat.
The use of candles for the blessing of throats stems from the candles that Blaise used while in prison. When an old woman’s pig had been miraculously rescued from a wolf by Saint Blaise, she would visit him in prison, bringing him food and candles to bring him light in his dark cell.
Anne admits being a little frightened of the strange candles so close to one’s neck… she was scared it might catch her hair on fire…forget sore throats!
So until tomorrow…Let us remember that the ‘gentle stream’ still moves rapidly among the rocks and currents and soon life is still “but a dream.” So let’s make it a good one!
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle