Santa Rosa ‘bubble lady’ fills the sky with joy

Wherever Santa Rosa grandmother Suzie Lindsay travels, iridescent rainbows follow.

She’s never without her bubble wand and the secret soapy solution she has developed to send trails of huge, shimmering bubbles skyward, each swirling with rich, transparent hues.

“They’re really, really colorful in the right condition. You can see things through them,” Lindsay said. “People have taken literally thousands of pictures of them.”

Lindsay draws a crowd wherever she goes, from unsuspecting beach-goers along the Sonoma coast to San Francisco Giants fans gathered outside the ballpark at McCovey Cove.

“People just stop what they’re doing, and they come and watch,” she said.

Bubbles are Lindsay’s passion and, she suspects, her calling for spreading happiness.

“Everybody loves them. With all the hate and drama going on in the world, people thank me for bringing back some joy,” she said.

Lindsay, 67, never imagined she would be spending her weekends sending gigantic bubbles afloat. She was simply looking for a way to amuse her 4-year-old grandson, Marley Jade Lindsay, the youngest of five grandchildren.

She progressed from a little plastic bottle of toy store bubbles to a dinner-plate-sized tray and wand designed for larger bubbles. Plenty of fun, for sure, but Lindsay was on the hunt for something even bigger and better.

Hours and hours of Internet research and experimentation later, she devised the perfect five-ingredient soap solution for the longest-lasting bubbles with the greatest beauty and sheen. She also assembled a long wand with two wooden dowels and a length of yarn for dipping into her bucket of solution.

Since September, she and her life partner and bubble assistant Samuel have been visiting local parks, beaches and occasional Marin and San Francisco locales, sharing fun that transcends generations and every Census Bureau demographic.

Fingers point and heads crane as Lindsay’s bubbles float overhead, often dozens of feet long and three or more feet in circumference.

She once formed a bubble bigger than her compact-sized Dodge Caliber - with a photo to prove it - and estimates her longest bubble at 220 feet, blown at the beach on a day when the conditions were spot-on perfect.

Although tiny hands have burst bubbles before they even gained flight, many of the spheres, orbs and tubes reach heights of 40 to 50 feet and last up to five minutes.

“They go way up,” Lindsay said. “It’s amazing to watch them. They pull out and break apart. One can become 50 bubbles.”

She also knows how to blow into a bubble to create a dozen more within the original, one of many bubble skills she has perfected.

Lindsay’s secret is her bubble solution, a “proprietary” and environmentally safe concoction that includes glycerin, “some household products” and a certain brand of dish soap. She uses at least 20 gallons of soap solution per week and, despite buying supplies in bulk, spends “hundreds and hundreds of dollars” on her hobby. Yet she says there’s no price tag on the satisfaction it brings.

“It’s rewarding and relaxing,” Lindsay said. “And I can make people happy.”

When the weather is cool with about 65 to 85 percent humidity and the winds are from seven to 10 miles per hour, it’s prime time for bubbles. Still, there are no guarantees. Bubbles are fleeting. “They all have a life of their own,” she said. “You can’t force it to do anything it doesn’t want to do.”

Lindsay’s technique is straight forward. She holds a dowel in each hand, dips the attached yarn into her bucket of soap solution and then carefully raises and spreads her arms as she takes a few steps back to catch the wind.

In an instant, huge bubbles appear and grow until the soapy film releases from the wand.

Children call her “the bubble lady,” but Lindsay officially calls her bubble art “Suzie’s Fantastic Giant Bubbles.”

She is a dedicated, longtime fan of the San Francisco Giants, even through the coldest slumps, and always wears Giants apparel when she’s out creating bubbles. Her dream is to send bubbles into the ocean breeze at a Giants game or at a function for players and their families.

Lindsay often practices her techniques during her lunch break, heading from her Petaluma office to a nearby park or open field. Lindsay works full time in the certificate department at Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc., a job that’s often stressful and exacting. Her bubble art breaks up the day and elevates her spirits.

On a recent day, a mother and daughter spotted Lindsay sending bubbles afloat from a quiet corner of Leghorns Park. After asking permission, 4-year-old Francesca Mortensen was on tippy toes jumping at bubbles bigger than herself.

“Let it live,” called out Francesca’s mother, Christina Mortensen, as an amoeba-like bubble took flight over Francesca’s head.

“It’s like rainbows,” Francesca said.

Lindsay loves encounters with children but is cautious when crowds begin to gather.

“I have bubble rules,” she said. “You can’t throw sand or anything else at them, and you can’t pop them with a stick or nobody gets bubbles.”

A mother of three grown sons, Lindsay knows how to enforce rules that keep everyone safe. She’s grateful when parents mind their children, especially as groups of 30 or 40 or more people gather.

“Sometimes I’m so mesmerized by the bubbles I don’t even notice (the crowds),” she said.

She especially enjoys the way her bubbles attract everyone from toddlers to seniors. Her young grandson and her 87-year-old mother, Jeneva Dedenbach, are among her biggest fans.

On Thanksgiving, she earned a standing ovation from those in the full parking lot at Goat Rock Beach as she sent her huge, glimmering bubbles over the cliffs at sunset.

“The whole parking lot was clapping,” she said. “It was the most amazing thing.”

For more information, email Thebubblelady9@gmail.com.