Today’s make something assignment gave me permission to make a mess. Specifically, I was to spill a liquid, then work with it.

So I poured some heavy cream on our kitchen counter.

We rarely have whipping cream in the house, but this was a birthday week, and Birthday Son asked for his dad’s homemade Country-Style Rigatoni for Saturday night’s dinner … so we have a few indulgent ingredients and leftovers on hand.

The cream pooled into a tidy circle. It was so heavy, it didn’t travel far or even make a very interesting shape. So I grabbed a straw and blew on it. At once, the center of the pool opened up and formed an “O.”

I tried varying this design. I let the O’s center fill in a bit, but that was no more interesting than this larger hole. I blew the edges out into what I hoped would be a starburst effect, but got a messy splatter instead. I added other holes, wondering if I might get a honeycomb or at least an amoeba.

Nope. Just a mess of holes.

So let’s stick with this big “O.” Maybe it’s an “O” that expresses surprise. or maybe understanding. It could be an “oh!” of shock, or one of worry. Perhaps it represents a long slow breath out … or possibly a sharp, quick breath in.

Regardless of how I manipulated this circle of cream, its molecules stuck together … even when I pressed a fingertip into the liquid, trying to fracture the pool into many directions. Nothing doing. The cream hung and clung together, sharing space and time and experience. Just as it should.