Just In Case You Weren't Tracking
This is the first day of my vacation week, so no real post until next week--but I will share one of my favorite photos from a summer past
This photograph is from my six-week trip to Poland (with a two-week stop in Austria) in the summer of 2018. I went there to teach in the Democracy and Diversity Seminar sponsored by the Transregional Center for Democracy at The New School for Social Research and have rarely had so much fun—or met so many wonderful people.
We traveled a bit in Poland before I started teaching, and I took this picture in Krakow, in the old town square. It’s a thing in Poland for a busker to create elaborate, homemade bubble makers with string and dowels. He dips it in a bucket of water mixed with dish detergent, then twirls around to create dozens of soap bubbles. I say “he” because I never saw a woman do it. I don’t know why.
It’s beautiful, and as a bonus, the bubbles delight small children immensely. They rush around, squealing, trying to catch bubbles and pop them.
The endgame? The happy children make all the adults happy, so much so that they give the bubble man money. Until the soapy water runs out, he will spend the afternoon dreamily spinning around, arms flung wide, brightly colored bubbles trailing after him.