October 27, Hugo.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Rain drops.
October 26, Hugo, Oklahoma (112 miles, winter quarters.)
Four hours of boring highway driving and we're back in Hugo.
It rained all along; it's still raining here.
Things forgotten along the year, not so important maybe, how people would pass our slow trailers across a double yellow line on blind country roads, over and over again, risking their lives for a minute; how even though Fridman quit driving the tire truck some time in September and thus got onto the lot a lot earlier Chris would keep parking us all the way out, like pariahs; how some people would rush out of the lot in the morning ahead of call time protocol, as there were a race going on for first spot onto the next lot; how all this and all that; how the mud show gets under your skin even as it wears you down and I'm not raising the tent every day seven days a week.
The route slip gave thanks to all for a record-breaking year and I wonder what records were broken.
Rain drops count, most likely.
Four hours of boring highway driving and we're back in Hugo.
It rained all along; it's still raining here.
Things forgotten along the year, not so important maybe, how people would pass our slow trailers across a double yellow line on blind country roads, over and over again, risking their lives for a minute; how even though Fridman quit driving the tire truck some time in September and thus got onto the lot a lot earlier Chris would keep parking us all the way out, like pariahs; how some people would rush out of the lot in the morning ahead of call time protocol, as there were a race going on for first spot onto the next lot; how all this and all that; how the mud show gets under your skin even as it wears you down and I'm not raising the tent every day seven days a week.
The route slip gave thanks to all for a record-breaking year and I wonder what records were broken.
Rain drops count, most likely.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A party for some.
October 25, Fort Smith.
The night was old and the Halloween party over - I had shuttled back and forth to try and take some pictures while watching the kids - when I routinely checked them for signs of temperature and found Dylan with a sudden peak of more than a hundred and four again and breathing rapidly. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for the drug to act but when he was at the same point moments later I was near hysterics and we decided to run to the nearest hospital and so we did, only to find out when we got there that the fever had all but subsided and he would probably be fine. The three hour ER wait sealed our immediate return home.
The party must have been fun for everybody else judging from the grins.
This week doesn't seem to end.
The night was old and the Halloween party over - I had shuttled back and forth to try and take some pictures while watching the kids - when I routinely checked them for signs of temperature and found Dylan with a sudden peak of more than a hundred and four again and breathing rapidly. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for the drug to act but when he was at the same point moments later I was near hysterics and we decided to run to the nearest hospital and so we did, only to find out when we got there that the fever had all but subsided and he would probably be fine. The three hour ER wait sealed our immediate return home.
The party must have been fun for everybody else judging from the grins.
This week doesn't seem to end.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Trick or treat.
October 24, Fort Smith.
The kids did Trick or Treat today between shows, but Dylan and Nicolas skipped.
Nicolas we've been watching closely and think he has the flu, the new one or the old one it doesn't matter, he's had a high fever although he seemed better today, and Dylan was doing great, hadn't run a fever since that first night, and all of a sudden, right after the trick-or-treaters came by, he started running one again. We went out today, it was finally warmer, but he must have gotten a chill, and now I'm panicking, dreading a return to yet another urgent care clinic (what else is going to be open on a Sunday?) dreading the accumulating bills (two hundred dollars just to walk into the clinic the other day, and now I know the system, that doesn't include neither the doctor nor the extra exams, those will be surprises in the mail - trick or treat.)
They'll skip the Halloween party tonight under the big top too, no way they were going out in the cold at night even if they both had been doing better.
It's been a hard week.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Late news.
October 23, Fort Smith.
Things forgotten among the children's illnesses and gloomy weather: last week the Rosales joined us again til the end of the season, followed on Monday by the Fusco family. Today another Perez brother arrived too.
Things forgotten among the children's illnesses and gloomy weather: last week the Rosales joined us again til the end of the season, followed on Monday by the Fusco family. Today another Perez brother arrived too.
More worries.
October 23, Fort Smith.
This I will not miss.
It was Nicolas' time to suddenly run a high fever yesterday (something about waking up from naps) but since we were in the middle of nowhere I simply gave him some children's painkillers and hoped for the best. Dylan's cough also picked up, on cue, to add to my stress level. Then as we were getting ready to leave around five thirty this morning Nicolas threw up all over the place, his skin clammy, hot.
Having to rush to the nearest clinic, around the corner or many miles away, not being able to rely on a familiar doctor (but in America in 2009 would you even call your family doctor at any hour and hope to talk to him?) you're running blind on a traveling circus, and on most days it's exhilarating but when your children are sick it's unbearable.
This I will not miss, as the season is almost over and we head to our transient homes.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
La Mongodal.
October 21, Republic.
Republic is where my friend Lisa lives. She came to visit and we headed to la Mongodal for lunch, kids' bliss. For the unacquainted, Mongodal is how Dylan pronounced McDonald earlier this year; it stuck and is now official Torales family lingo.
Dylan is doing much better, hasn't even had a fever since the first night of pneumonia.
Republic is where my friend Lisa lives. She came to visit and we headed to la Mongodal for lunch, kids' bliss. For the unacquainted, Mongodal is how Dylan pronounced McDonald earlier this year; it stuck and is now official Torales family lingo.
Dylan is doing much better, hasn't even had a fever since the first night of pneumonia.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Mischief.
October 21, Republic.
When I woke up from a nap yesterday next to Dylan, ages before I realized he was seriously sick, all I saw was the chocolate smears around his mouth. Apparently he had gotten up during our nap and opened the fridge (new, he couldn't do it by himself before) to take one of my bars of dark chocolate out.
We found it on the counter top bitten at both ends, the mischief hilariously revealed.
Worries.
October 21, Republic.
For a while I thought it was swine flu.
Dylan had had a cold for more than a week and yesterday he woke up from a nap with a hundred and four fever. We had almost brought him in a few days ago for a dry, persistent cough, then opted for natural remedies; we were, as usual in the circus, in the middle of nowhere. This time I rushed to a pediatric urgent care clinic in Springfield.
It was pneumonia, but not so severe that he required hospitalization. The night was long and difficult, coughing and the fever is up again. Still, it's not the dreaded flu.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
A hair moment.
October 17, Eldorado Springs.
Time for the horse act and Armando's hair was out of place; Natalia tried to brush it back, Renato was his usual self.
More of the same.
October 17, Eldorado Springs.
Muddy lot, and Casey's house gets stuck and has to be pulled out and onto the pavement next to "the rich and famous," as Fridman calls the trailers that are parked next to the midway (they're on pavement; the rest of us are on mud: the rich and famous.)
There was the usual farm tractor and the driver looked like he was having a lot of fun speed-hauling trucks into place all morning long.
A trailer with a view.
October 17, Eldorado Springs, Missouri (38 miles, highway 54 between Fugate Motors and Summer Fresh Market.)
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wireless.
October 16, Wheatland.
Yesterday morning the internet pedaled on (a really old bicycle, surely) before grinding to a halt towards noon. Today it's just grinding on painfully.
The wireless road is just like the circus road, full of glitches and potholes.
Yesterday morning the internet pedaled on (a really old bicycle, surely) before grinding to a halt towards noon. Today it's just grinding on painfully.
The wireless road is just like the circus road, full of glitches and potholes.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A short visit.
October 13, Fulton.
I drove to Columbia to meet Greg for lunch and went to see the house where I lived there, on a one-block dead-end street called Otto Court. It was too cold to wander around as I had planned but I did get to visit with Lily, Sally's daughter, whom I hadn't seen since she was eleven; she's twenty-six now. The onslaught of a bad headache and the cold sent me back home to the circus in the afternoon where I collapsed on the couch and slept the pain off.
I drove to Columbia to meet Greg for lunch and went to see the house where I lived there, on a one-block dead-end street called Otto Court. It was too cold to wander around as I had planned but I did get to visit with Lily, Sally's daughter, whom I hadn't seen since she was eleven; she's twenty-six now. The onslaught of a bad headache and the cold sent me back home to the circus in the afternoon where I collapsed on the couch and slept the pain off.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Of feathers and friendship.
October 12, Warrenton.
Tis the season of friends still. Greg and Sally came to visit from Columbia today, so much time lost and found.
We used to write letters, Greg and I, and now it's emails, and they're not any more frequent but just as sustaining. Friendship in spite of time and distance, pen on paper, a bright orange, uneven, soft Chinese paper laced with a golden leaf which broke under the scratches of my fountain pen head, ma plume, my feather, as we say in French. The paper evokes a busy oriental market in Belleville, a Paris working-class neighborhood, and sitting in a dark cafe nearby writing, reading, passing time.
Time passed, and it's now many years, my pen dry but our friendship enduring.
Tis the season of friends still. Greg and Sally came to visit from Columbia today, so much time lost and found.
We used to write letters, Greg and I, and now it's emails, and they're not any more frequent but just as sustaining. Friendship in spite of time and distance, pen on paper, a bright orange, uneven, soft Chinese paper laced with a golden leaf which broke under the scratches of my fountain pen head, ma plume, my feather, as we say in French. The paper evokes a busy oriental market in Belleville, a Paris working-class neighborhood, and sitting in a dark cafe nearby writing, reading, passing time.
Time passed, and it's now many years, my pen dry but our friendship enduring.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Non-news.
October 11, Union.
It's cold, really cold, but sunny again. We're wedged into a parking lot and there is a great whoop across the quiet street.
There was a gas leak in the trailer this morning and we're still not quite sure where it originated. Now we're out of gas, so that solves the problem.
It's cold, really cold, but sunny again. We're wedged into a parking lot and there is a great whoop across the quiet street.
There was a gas leak in the trailer this morning and we're still not quite sure where it originated. Now we're out of gas, so that solves the problem.
Escape to the zoo.
October 11, Union.
The boys and I spent the day at the Saint Louis zoo with my friend Zuzana yesterday, the world outside the circus bubble looking much like inside, tigers and all; Dylan's face watching the penguins, Nicolas saying goodbye to every animal we stopped to see.
It was a perfect day for this, crisp and sunny, and Zuzana drove us back just in time for her to witness this season's ritual tractor-pulling of the circus off the sinking field.
The boys and I spent the day at the Saint Louis zoo with my friend Zuzana yesterday, the world outside the circus bubble looking much like inside, tigers and all; Dylan's face watching the penguins, Nicolas saying goodbye to every animal we stopped to see.
It was a perfect day for this, crisp and sunny, and Zuzana drove us back just in time for her to witness this season's ritual tractor-pulling of the circus off the sinking field.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Last year.
October 9, Troy.
Same lot as last year, much worse weather (it was sunny, I took pictures of Julio Rosales' family; Natalie told me she was pregnant with Genevieve.)
Same lot as last year, much worse weather (it was sunny, I took pictures of Julio Rosales' family; Natalie told me she was pregnant with Genevieve.)
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Cloistered.
October 8, Benld.
We've been hibernating under the unperturbed rain.
Fridman watched movies then drifted off to sleep and then took off with friends, Dylan was sweet as he and Nicolas spent all day inside without even getting cartoons as a compensation for the lock-down. Sometime in the early afternoon (I think, I soon lost track of the hours as if they didn't count anymore) they fell asleep with me on the sofa and later I carried Dylan to his crib and stayed with Nicolas as he amused himself with books and cars and trucks and more cars and trucks.
I did manage to read some.
We've been hibernating under the unperturbed rain.
Fridman watched movies then drifted off to sleep and then took off with friends, Dylan was sweet as he and Nicolas spent all day inside without even getting cartoons as a compensation for the lock-down. Sometime in the early afternoon (I think, I soon lost track of the hours as if they didn't count anymore) they fell asleep with me on the sofa and later I carried Dylan to his crib and stayed with Nicolas as he amused himself with books and cars and trucks and more cars and trucks.
I did manage to read some.
Maybe, maybe not.
October 8, Benld.
Heavy rain and the shows are canceled, unless Oscar can come up with a building.
(Too good to be true, the day off, rain or no rain?)
Heavy rain and the shows are canceled, unless Oscar can come up with a building.
(Too good to be true, the day off, rain or no rain?)
The way things are.
October 7, Winchester, Illinois (44 miles, Monument park.)
Didn't see anything of Winchester, annual pilgrimage to former home of Jacksonville, where the town hasn't changed but things have among our friends, as things will.
Didn't see anything of Winchester, annual pilgrimage to former home of Jacksonville, where the town hasn't changed but things have among our friends, as things will.
Midwest pean.
October 6, Mt Sterling.
Nicolas fell asleep and Dylan and I went for a walk downtown along a small-town street, coming back to the circus through the fairgrounds in the back. Flash memory of taking pictures there for the Jacksonville paper and a tranquil afternoon, warm memories. Vision of a black horse in the distance galloping against the bright dry corn, loose; I loose the picture. Today the sky is dotted with brilliant clouds and the sunlight intermittently lights them up, the glorious light again.
And so it is that I'm falling in love with the landscape of the Midwest, scorned and long left behind, electric poles poking in its infinite skies, the improbable beauty.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
Salsa.
October 5, Carthage.
Kate and Chucho now rock the cookhouse, music fills the air on days they work, he cooking, she washing dishes and helping with service.
Welcome.
October 5, Carthage.
Carthage announced itself with a "Historic Carthage Jail" sign.
Down the road there was another sign, for the Gun Club.
They know hospitality in Illinois.
Carthage announced itself with a "Historic Carthage Jail" sign.
Down the road there was another sign, for the Gun Club.
They know hospitality in Illinois.
Cainan moments - Dad's off to work.
October 4, Oquawka.
Shortly before the beginning of the show Casey grabs a cup of coffee before heading backstage where he'll be the first to go in. Natalie helps him but doesn't have to put a costume on; she'll do that shortly thereafter for her own act.
Georgia watches her little sister for the ten minutes of Casey's act, and Casey in turn watches the baby when Natalie is on.
Cainan moments - Beau.
October 4, Oquawka.
Beau is being trained and does not appear in the show yet. Natalie hopes to have him ready to work next year to take the place of Dixie, who died last month of cancer.
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