Friday, October 29, 2010

No more of all that circus.

October 29, Hugo.

It feels sad, as things ending will.
"Home run to Hugo" said the route slip, like every year. And everybody made it safe. Some had left straight for home last night, like Brian, who took off so fast I didn't get a chance to say goodbye; some left this morning; and then the rest of us, who park their trailer on the Kelly Miller winter quarters lot here in Hugo, all drove here.
On the way Fridman and I stopped at a gas station on highway 70 to wait as Teto filled his truck. The sign said: "Pierce's Country Stop: Feed/Beer."
We're in Oklahoma.
So it feels like our circus home, still, and not so sad yet, seeing Lucky Eddie, Delena, Susana walking around with Argio around the trailers, Tavana and Danny still at the office, the crew guys cleaning their stuff to get ready to leave for Mexico on Sunday. And there are no more waking up at five thirty every morning, no more driving the truck every morning, tired and awake or not, no more losing power every night, cold or not, no more gathering the pieces of what fell during the trip, no more wishing we would stay put, just one more day, just one more day.
Now there's the rest of the year without the circus.
And it feels unhinged, as things ending will, or maybe just circus people when they leave their wandering soul behind.

8 comments:

RickinMI said...

Thank you for all your updates and pictures, looking foreward to next year!!

Dick Flint said...

Will your family be back on K-M next season? In prose and pictures your blog has conveyed a remarkable sense of family and the wonder of life on a tent circus. I have been a reader and admirer since Casey or Radar first mentioned your blog. The Trailer With a View series conveyed a sense of both continuity and change, both hallmarks of greater aspects of circus life. You presented us with many wonderful photographs and cogent yet lucid prose, an often deeply insightful blog offering a different view that nicely complements the other two blogs about the K-M show this season. One of the best images, and in part a favorite of mine because it means most to those who know, is your picture of George Hanneford and the father-son Poemas where you show George soon after the loss of his wife checking the mechanic of his grandnephew. The show—and the dedication of a special way of life—goes on. I would look forward to meeting you in person next season.
Dick Flint
Baltimore

barry miller said...

You have given this 77 year old retired performer yet another year on the road, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I look forward to next season wherever you might be.

Barry Miller

No Thyme to Lose said...

Heartfelt thanks for a season of insights and musings. Please post during the winter. I wonder if you're returning to the City of Palms.

Tejano said...

It must be an odd feeling. Here you are with a group of people who become like family. Day in, day out, you wake up and hear the familiar voices and sounds of the circus 24.7.This for nine months more or less. Then, it is over. The end of the road comes and the family disperses across the hemisphere. Do you all keep in touch? Some may not return....and when next February comes around, it will be a new group to share life on the road with..

Have a great hiatus! As stated by Mr. Flint..will you be back? Hope so!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for giving circus followers your unique window to the world, the world that's defined by the route. The quality--and especially consistency--of your work under some harrowing and very personal situations has been remarkable. We're all indebted...all the way through next season, pretty please? Meantime, keep on looking through the rearview mirror of your circus mind.
Lane Talburt

Valérie Berta Torales said...

Yes, we'll be back next season! (and so will everybody else on the show, this time around, so "the family" is intact, for once.)
But no, no Florida for us this winter. I am going to France with the kids and Fridman is going to Peru for the first time in almost 12 years to see his family again, the big news for us this year being that we finally got our green card and thus are free to travel outside the US without fear of not being let in again.
Thank you all for your compliments, and what a great expression, Lane, I love it: let's all keep looking through the rear-view mirror of our mind, whatever they may behold...
Peace and joy may be with you all, and see you down the road.
v

Anonymous said...

A NEW BLOG

http://circusphotoarchives.blogspot.com/