This topic likely conjures up a specific image in your mind. Although embarrassing, I first thought of the striking blonde woman running down the beach in the romantic comedy 10 to the music of Ravels Bolero. Dudley Moore, described Bo Derek as an 11 until he discovered her beauty was only skin deep. Given a second thought it was obvious that the perfect performance rates a 10 and I recalled watching Nadia Comaneci record the first perfect 10 at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, later in the same games she earned three more gold medals with 6 perfect performances. Today, we have the good fortune to watch Simone Biles as she amazes the gymnastic world with her high flying routines. A scale of 1 to 10 is common as we are obsessed with rating nearly everything. I got started thinking about this because it is my brother Jack’s 73rd birthday this week. Yes the digits add up to 10 and so did the number 37 he wore during a distinguished football career at Utah State. Jack was the middle son of five boys and he has five exceptional sons of his own, 10 Mooney boys. Jack is a retired dentist and his patients rate him as 10. He has earned many accolades but none more prestigious than his ongoing performance as a father, grandfather, friend, mentor and teacher. Join me in wishing Dr. J happy birthday.
I do have a passion for bubbles, not the black swan type that we saw in the Great Recession of 2008 rather those filled with air. During our recent San Diego trip we walked to Balboa Park and we experienced professional bubble blowing. The picture tells the story but this nice couple travel the beaches of Southern California and entertain kids and adults. The bubble apparat are home made and both include two long poles with mop type string forming many figure 8’s for the medium bubbles and larger circles for the monster bubbles. The bubble formula is in a large ice chest size container. The ocean breeze provides the wind power. Hank and Margie chased bubbles for nearly an hour and were thoroughly soaked from those that broke on or over them. I give the artists a 10 for their spirit and attitude, they loved watching the children and do this as a week end hobby. Bubbles offer us the opportunity to discuss science with our grandchildren. The fragile globes demonstrate concepts like elasticity, surface tension, chemistry, light, and even geometry. “Bubbles! We all know how fascinating they are, evoking happy memories of blowing and chasing the mystical orbs with our friends. A bubble’s fragile nature, beautiful rainbow colors, ? and ability to soar through the sky make them universally fascinating…”
I suppose all bubbles must eventually burst, but the joy they deliver overcome the momentary loss. For the holiday season I suggest you recall great advice from an anonymous source, “don’t let anyone burst your bubble. And one thing maybe we can all agree upon in this most contentious time, “there is no angry way to say bubbles.”
Enjoy the season. Mike