Practical Adventure

My scientifically-minded mother loves to learn new things. She often starts by pondering on a new topic and then progresses to asking people about their experiences with it, “What worked? What didn’t work? What would you have done differently? What should I be asking?” During the polling process, she also researches the subject at the library and online. Eventually, she decides to try it out for herself.

A good example is the time that she wanted to do something to help the sensitive skin issues that several family members have. She asked numerous moms what they had tried until finding one who suggested lye soap with no added fragrances or dyes. Mom, of course, decided that she wanted to make soap and I – her only daughter in the country that summer – was enlisted to help.

After a great deal of research, we spent several hours shopping online and driving about town to collect the necessary ingredients. Mom decided that the best molds would be foot-long sections of PVC pipe with a tightly-fitting cap on one end, so we stopped at a local farm-and-home store. Entering the store, Mom grabbed a cart and wove her way past the bored clerk and the displays of deck chairs, patio tables, and umbrellas. She decided to try a two-inch-diameter pipe and a four-inch one because she wanted to know which would work better as a soap mold. The store did not offer pipe-cutting, so she tried putting one end of each ten-foot pipe in the cart. I was a little dubious and wondered if she had thought this through. Due to their length and weight, the pipes would not stay in the cart, and I had to hold them steady while she steered the cart toward the front of the store. When we reached the lawn furniture and bumped the first umbrella with the top of the pipes, I knew she had not thought it through. Nevertheless, she continued on, trying to avoid as many umbrellas as possible. The clerk just leaned on the counter and laughed as we slowly made our way to the front. I was starting to feel like a pinball ricocheting from side-to-side when Mom said, “You know, a lot of things I do with you turn into ‘Lucy and Ethel’ moments!”

“If we’re Lucy and Ethel, you must be Lucy,” I shot back with a smile.

“What?” She gasped with mock indignation and bumping into another umbrella, “I don’t know about that.”

“Wasn’t she the one who always had the crazy ideas and got them into all those situations?”

“I still don’t think I’m Lucy,” she mumbled with a little pout as we finally reached the counter. We paid the laughing clerk for the pipe and made it home without further incident. The soap also turned out well.