For the past few weeks in quarantine, I’ve taken on the role of substitute science teacher for my 8-year-old goddaughter, Loretta. Tuesday and Thursday mornings we’ll FaceTime™ for an hour and go over a science lesson for the day. We’ve learned about the planets, water cycle, soil properties, erosion, and touched on a few sanitary practices like how soap and toothpaste work. It’s been great for her to have some interaction, as her mom/dad are pretty strict on exercising social distancing. It’s also been fun for me to go over material that I’ve forgotten over the years. As the sessions have gone on, I’m finding it more and more challenging to keep her focus for the hour, so have been including different experiments with the lectures. Per Loretta’s request to do an experiment where something blows up, I planned on doing the ol’ erupting volcano experiment where vinegar and baking soda are mixed to create a foaming overflow. As a child, I had done this experiment many times before and watched a few videos to refresh the process, so I didn’t bother trying out the experiment before the lesson. So much was built up for this “eruption” and when it came time to pour the vinegar over the baking soda, nothing happened. I tried a few different times, but every time I poured the vinegar over the baking soda nothing would happen, not even a little fizz. I came to the conclusion that something had expired or contaminated the vinegar and moved on from the experiment.
I started the next day the way most of my days have been. I had breakfast and coffee, puzzled for a bit, and went on a short run. After my run, I’ll do a few more exercises with weights (in my case, a large bottle filled with water as all dumbbells are sold out!) but, today, couldn’t find my bottle. I looked around the house, ultimately, to find it half empty in the garage. It turns out, my girlfriend had moved my “weight bottle” to the garage in her efforts to clean. Oh…I also forgot to mention that the bottle I used for the weight is an old distilled vinegar bottle, so yes, I unknowingly poured water, not vinegar, over the baking soda which is why there was no “eruption.” In my defense, the bottle still had a slight vinegar smell, but it all makes sense now…oops
Along my run, I stop by a neighbor’s house to sniff their daphne and lilacs. -this may be why I’ve been having issues with allergies
I’ve been cooking a lot of Vietnamese food as well, which is something I never had an interest in doing before. Although I always felt I had very little Vietnamese influence in my upbringing, I’m finding that I have a natural understanding for Vietnamese flavors, with a few dishes I’ve recently cooked triggering childhood nostalgia I never knew existed.
Overall, given the circumstances, things have been going pretty well. I’m learning about myself, my partner, and doing my best to remain healthy.
Thanks again for all of your kind words and support. I hope you and your families are safe and well. We will return and, soon, you’ll be able to join us :)
