Yesterday's experiment evolved from a little reading and a few moments of peace in which Grand Bon-Bon was not fretting about one facet of his 95 years of life or another. These days I feel as if my ability to be involved in my children's lives has been limited by my grandfather's incessant worries, concerns, and frustrations.
Being 95 is not easy and, unfortunately, some who live to this ripe old age consider it a curse rather than a blessing. I suppose there are lessons to be learned from this as well, including the fact that being a critical, "problem-solving" type person is tolerable and even "successful" when you are young and middle-aged but quite painful and miserable when you reach the twilight of life. I am reminded daily of the importance of seeing the beauty in life- not the beauty in what you have created (because at 95, there isn't much you can "create" anymore) but the beauty in what is created.
On that note, Max and Micah cooperated in this ultimately-awesome experiment to create a water filter.
Max chose his own "ingredients" and added them in the order above. The book suggested using cotton and blotting paper, but Max ruled in favor of an "all-natural filter".
Now all he needed was muddy water. So he went over to the garden and picked a fistful of red clay dirt which he then mixed with water and added to a bowl.
At first, the muddy water didn't go through the filter at all. Max discovered that he would need a faster flow, so he moved from pouring muddy water from a small bowl to pouring muddy water from a bucket.
After a few tries, it was Micah who delivered the shout of glory, "It's WORKING!". Sure enough, the water was clear as day- Max's homemade filter was strong enough to remove even red Alabama dirt clay from the mix. I didn't get a photo because life intervened, but the filter worked perfectly and helped us visualize the role of a stream as a water filter in an ecosystem.
You can find more fun water experiments and ideas in this book.
