How to Say the Years: Blowing Bubbles

For March we'll do some very basic history— not even History 101 but remedial History 001. Let's say some years.

So the bottom line from my two or three degrees in U.S. history: Americans have lost the narrative thread. They came back from the kitchen and now they can't follow the movie. ("Who's that guy?") They haven't a clue what's going on. Sure, of course things are going badly in the Chinese Century, but the root problem is not so much that the ship of state is flying toward a mountain, but that it is flying blind.

So— when my nephew was not learning how to talk, the speech therapist— lovely, young, keenly anticipated— came over and did the dumbest thing. We thought she'd make him talk, but instead she had him blowing bubbles. Bubbles? Well, turns out that's excellent practice for controlling your breathing and muscles, plus feeling good for doing something besides failing to speak. Who knew— experts know stuff.

So let's say some years.

(Bell rings.) OK we'll pick up there next time.

Read these in the browser! Robert Wellman Campbell, "How to Say the Years: Blowing Bubbles," RSS Longa, 5 March 2026, public domain via CC0 1.0.