What can you make that will quickly vanish? Today’s “make something” prompt offered a few suggestions. Work with bubbles, or smoke, or cream in a cup of coffee.

I chose steam. Before cranking up the hot shower in our guest bathroom, I wrote a couple words on the mirror with a cotton ball dipped in lemon juice. In no time, the message emerged from the steam. (Photographing a mirror beside a window is not easy, by the way.)

But here’s the thing: Once the hot water stopped flowing, the door stood open, and the steam began to lift … the lemon juice letters remained quite visible. Maybe this wasn’t so ephemeral after all.

I’m not cleaning the mirror. I like the idea of visitors wondering what happened to make our bathroom “so hot.”