Friday, October 26, 2012

Split.

October 26, Hugo.

Nicolas did the split last week, after practicing for three months. 
Dylan is pretty close but does not quite touch the ground yet.  Both are in for a present.

Sightings.

October 26, Hugo.

Somewhere on highway 70: "Show pigs."
And my favorite creek of the circus road: Muddy Boggy Creek, also on highway 70.

Home.

October 26, Hugo.

Here it is: a six o'clock call for the last jump, the home run to Hugo, no hurdles but short of a few people who left for other places last night, until next season farewell, and Dylan wakes up as we settle into our spot in winter quarters and says, "This is my favorite lot."
We're home for the rest of the year.

A trailer with a view.

October 26, Hugo, Oklahoma (105 miles, winter quarters.)

Last show.


October 25, Ardmore.

Last show, last pictures, and the usual nostalgia for what's ending.
This was a good season for the Kelly Miller Circus, good weather, so little mud it could hardly be called a mud show, a quiet season, and we missed half of it but the boys are five and six and the circus is all they've known, and if this was our last season as a circus family I don't want to think about it, not now. 
Last shows, goodbye and see you next year, I will cherish this circus family forever and ever, like a children's tale.

Last show (I'll miss the pirates.)

October 25, Ardmore.

Last show (and last rola bola for a while.)

October 25, Ardmore.

Last show ("That's entertainment.")

October 25, Ardmore.

Last show (Reina.)

October 25, Ardmore.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Halloween (the Loyal/Fusco tribe as Flintstones.)

October 24, Ardmore.

Trick or Treat? (Dylan is a ghost.)

October 24, Ardmore.

Halloween (Nicolas and Dylan as the Circo Vazquez clowns.)

October 24, Ardmore.

The end: the Halloween party.

October 24, Ardmore.

Last jump, last lot, last town, and the Halloween party.
We dressed Dylan and Nicolas as the Vazquez Circus clowns in their Martian act.  They won second place.  It was a great party, and the costumes were better than ever.  The Loyal/Fusco tribe outdid themselves again, as the Flintstones family, complete with a Flintstones foam buggy.

A trailer with a view.

October 24, Ardmore, Oklahoma (127 miles, corner of Commerce and Veterans Avenue.)

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Double take (Sara and Delena.)

 October 23, Pryor.

Shower.

 October 23, Pryor.

There was a baby shower for Natalia today in the big top.  She is having another boy.

Coloring book.

 October 23, Pryor.

Backstage.

 October 23, Pryor.

Double take alternate (the Fusco family.)

October 23, Pryor.

Miles.

October 23, Pryor.

Another day, another ninety miles jump.

A trailer with a view.

October 23, Prior, Oklahoma (90 miles, fairgrounds.)

Monday, October 22, 2012

Double take (Carolyn and Mike Rice.)

October 22, Granby.

A trailer with a view.

October 22, Granby, Missouri (89 miles, fairgrounds.)

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Double take (John Moss' family.)

 October 21, Eldorado Springs.

Double take (Shirley North and John Ringling North.)


October 21, Eldorado Springs.

Double take (Fridman's family.)

October 21, Eldorado Springs.

A trailer with a view.

October 21, Eldorado Springs, Missouri (87 miles, next to Fugate Motors store.)

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Double take (family portrait - the Cook brothers.)

October 20, Pleasant Hill.

Fresia (cleaning out the truck.)

October 20, Pleasant Hill.

A trailer with a view.

October 20, Pleasant Hill, Missouri (37 miles, fairgrounds.)

A trailer with a view.

October 19, Warrensburg, Missouri (71 miles, fairgrounds.)

Out-take (Rebecca.)

October 18, Boonville.

A trailer with a view.

October 18, Boonville, Missouri (59 miles, fairgrounds.)

Columbia, finally.

October 17, Auxvasse.

In Columbia all day visiting schools and my friend Sally.
I liked the school with the poorest ratings the best, the people there, the feel of it; it added a science and math specialization and a new, gregarious and energetic principal a few years back. 
I like that the school is named after an artist, Thomas Hart Benton, a muralist from Missouri who belonged to the Regionalist movement.

A trailer with a view.

October 17, Auxvasse, Missouri (89 miles, Lions Club grounds.)

Double take (Lamount.)

October 16, Elsberry.

Slowing down.

October 16, Elsberry.

My bad knee forces me to slow down, to walk slowly, and so the proverbial silver lining: I walk mindfully, carefully minding each of my steps, slowly, each step fully lived, like a Buddhist walking meditation, and I stop to think about that, and enjoy it.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Practice (Fridman.)

October 16, Eslberry.

Backstage.

October 16, Eslberry.

Fall.

 October 16, Eslberry.

A trailer with a view.

October 16, Elsberry, Missouri (39 miles, Page Branch park.)

Monday, October 15, 2012

A trailer with a view.

October 15, Warrenton, Missouri (29 miles, athletic complex.)

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Double take (Jacob.)

October 14, Washington.

Off road.

October 14, Washington.

We got a little lost on the jump this morning. 
I figure we added about ten miles to the distance, but then again we got to see the rest of the construction around the St Louis freeways, which, like the ones in the Rio Grande valley, seem to be in a state of perpetual reconstruction.
We went to the St Louis City Museum last night with John Moss' family, and met Rebecca's family and Tavana's family there.  No need to say the kids just adored it (but maybe not as much as we did.)

A trailer with a view.

October 14, Washington, Missouri (84 miles, fairgrounds.)

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Double take (Arwen, Danny and Tavana.)

October 13, Troy.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Double take (Ryan.)

October 12, Troy.

Practice.

October 12, Troy.

Rehearsals for next year's production have been going on all week, and Fridman's new act is coming together nicely, hours of daily practice paying off.  The kids are still practicing too, and Nicolas is an inch away from doing the split.

A trailer with a view.

October 12, Troy, Illinois (32 miles, across form RP Lumber.)

Bad news in latin.

October 11, Bendl.

So I have osteochondritis dissecans.
It's latin for "Sorry but your bones are dying off."
Or, my left knee started hurting badly last night and today I can't walk without limping.
It feels just like ten years ago, when my other knee was diagnosed with a rare disease that involves a list of scary phenomenons like reduced blood flow to the knee bone and detached cartilage and bone fragments.  I had surgery and it didn't work.  My right knee has been bothering me on and off all this time, and now it's the left, too.
Mulling this tonight as I try not to panic, and if I'm right in my self-diagnosis, it occurs to me that the first outburst of the disease happened as I was getting ready to move to California from Jacksonville and start a new job at a newspaper there, and that now is exactly one of these times again, a time of change and stress and its cohort of personal upheaval and emotional roller-coaster.  If I am right and this is a recurrence of the disease then all my plans once again are up in the air, as I'll need surgery right away if I am not to walk through life not only being in excruciating pain at every step, but also not being able to work or care for the kids by myself.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

A trailer with a view.

October 11, Bendl, Illinois (39 miles, Bendl city park.)

A trailer with a view.

October 10, Greenfield, Illinois (28 miles, Rives Lake park.)

Jacksonville again.

October 9, Jacksonville.

Annual visit to my former home town and "where Fridman and I met" town of Jacksonville, and a pumpkin and garden fresh tomatoes-filled day with our friends Steve and Tiffany.  We stopped at Liliana's house and I almost gave her a heart attack; I thought she knew we were in town and it turned out she didn't: her face when she opened her front door.
Dear friends, dear memories.

A trailer with a view.

October 9, Jacksonville, Illinois (50 miles, Prairieland Museum grounds.)

Monday, October 08, 2012

Double take (Armando's family.)

October 8, Sherman.

A trailer with a view.

October 8, Sherman, Illinois (29 miles, Athletic Club grounds.)