Mud Bubbles

Last night the sky was clear, the moon was bright and a heavy frost covered everything.  Morning's bright sun pulled Amy and Becky outside for a walk about.  They found themselves down by the road.  Our driveway there catches moisture from both directions.  Rain water washes down the driveway picking up and carrying the clay fines that are intended to cement the surface in place.  These fines are  trapped between the road and the higher driveway creating a muddy mess when wet.

There is a thin layer of water covering this ground  and sharp eyed Becky spotted tiny bubbles.  I have never seen anything like this and considerable time was spent peering into the mud and exploding bubbles with finger tips.  This type of activity may explain why few people make the trip up our hill.  Just how crazy we are is an obvious but unanswered question.

This close up is intended to show a bubble coated with fine clay.  If you click on a picture it will be enlarged. 

A careful look will reveal floating fines that coated a now popped bubble.  We watched in wonder as the breeze moved these masses about without breaking them up.  It reminded us that wet clay sticks to both shoes and shovels as well as itself.  The pink color is the reflection of Amy's "I am not a deer" hat on the surface of the shallow water.

This photo shows both a cluster of bubbles and the reflected color of Amy's hat.

 This magic soon disappeared as the sun warmed everything and the breeze stiffened at times.  In my seventy-six years of tramping about outside, I have never before seen anything like these mud bubbles.  Had I been here alone, I would have never seen them.  Becky has always had an eye for seeing the unusual even if it is small and easily overlooked.