February 9, Brownsville.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Final/first move.
February 9, Brownsville, Texas (22 miles, lot across from H.E.B. on Paredes Line Road.)
Wasted day, waited all day to move, supposedly because lot was soft, but upon arriving it didn't look much worse than half the lots we played last year. Go figure.
We arrived around three in the afternoon and immediately rushed off to find Courtney's rigging pulleys. Fridman dropped me off at an urgent care clinic as the month-long cough has become worse and the stomach virus is not gone at all either.
Monday, February 08, 2010
There but not there.
February 8, Rio Hondo.
Second leg went fine, too, we arrived safe and sound, but I almost missed the lot as we were fifteen miles short of the route's mileage; the lot we were supposed to be on is still flooded after last week's torrential rains so we are on a temporary grass parking lot off Route 106.
Jim and Danny went to see the original lot this morning and it was decided we would move there tomorrow. It is still going to be a muddy mess, if Circus Chimera experience is any good.
The season's opening is on Thursday, so in the end we'll have only one day of rehearsals. It reminds me of the first year we were with Kelly Miller, opening in Hugo in March, cold and gray; I remember Sara and Gigi, the rush of so many new faces, and being anxious to finally jump into this one-day stop thing.
Dylan was two, Nicolas a baby; it seems lo long ago.
Second leg went fine, too, we arrived safe and sound, but I almost missed the lot as we were fifteen miles short of the route's mileage; the lot we were supposed to be on is still flooded after last week's torrential rains so we are on a temporary grass parking lot off Route 106.
Jim and Danny went to see the original lot this morning and it was decided we would move there tomorrow. It is still going to be a muddy mess, if Circus Chimera experience is any good.
The season's opening is on Thursday, so in the end we'll have only one day of rehearsals. It reminds me of the first year we were with Kelly Miller, opening in Hugo in March, cold and gray; I remember Sara and Gigi, the rush of so many new faces, and being anxious to finally jump into this one-day stop thing.
Dylan was two, Nicolas a baby; it seems lo long ago.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Driving down.
February 6, Cleveland, Texas (398 miles, fairgrounds.)
First leg of the trip down to Brownsville and all went fine. Courtney rode with me, which made it fun and more relaxed than driving by myself. It is cold here too, fifty miles north of Houston, and Fridman is looking for an open outlet so we can plug in the trailer for the night.
First leg of the trip down to Brownsville and all went fine. Courtney rode with me, which made it fun and more relaxed than driving by myself. It is cold here too, fifty miles north of Houston, and Fridman is looking for an open outlet so we can plug in the trailer for the night.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Hugo sights.
February 5, Hugo.
Hugo is a sore sight in the winter, a study in shades of unkempt gray, brown and mud.
The poor economy has not helped. The Main Shopping plaza is a ghost, a derelict patch of potholed asphalt with a hairdresser clutching to life next to an abandoned store-front and a counseling center (Providence Counseling Center: No Soliciting, No Smoking, No Weapons.)
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Delayed.
February 4, 2010, Hugo.
Departure for Brownsville, Texas, the same opening location as last year, has been delayed yet another day.
We were to leave for the two-day trip down to the border today but it was postponed til tomorrow, apparently because some of the crew had not arrived and the circus was missing drivers. Now we've just learned that we are not leaving tomorrow either, this time because the lot is flooded after the torrential rains of the day. It's been raining all day (and the trailer leaks in all the familiar places.)
Whatever the real reasons I am enjoying the reprieve of all-night-long power, the last in a long long time, and another day to relax before hitting the road (I am fortunate that this is not a time of manic preparation for me, as it is for most other circus members.)
Departure for Brownsville, Texas, the same opening location as last year, has been delayed yet another day.
We were to leave for the two-day trip down to the border today but it was postponed til tomorrow, apparently because some of the crew had not arrived and the circus was missing drivers. Now we've just learned that we are not leaving tomorrow either, this time because the lot is flooded after the torrential rains of the day. It's been raining all day (and the trailer leaks in all the familiar places.)
Whatever the real reasons I am enjoying the reprieve of all-night-long power, the last in a long long time, and another day to relax before hitting the road (I am fortunate that this is not a time of manic preparation for me, as it is for most other circus members.)
We're back and better.
February 1, 2010, Hugo, Oklahoma (1,100 miles and then a few.)
I withstood life in a house, and we made it safe back to Hugo and a frigid trailer.
We drove back from Florida over the week end, the trip went fast and easy with two ride-perfect kids, but a sore neck (Fridman called me Terminator because I couldn't turn my head and had to twist my whole bust instead,) the result of a bad chiropractic move that woke up an old injury, kept me on the verge of tears until I remembered the wonders of anti-inflammatories. That and a food poisoning whose effects lingered for weeks (Dylan threw up for an entire night, not the best memory,) and a persistent, wrenching dry cough (a month and counting) that spread to the kids before we left, made for a somewhat difficult winter, even if we were spared the extreme cold that gripped the rest of the nation.
Now we're back home, and I can eat again, not to mention turn my head.
I withstood life in a house, and we made it safe back to Hugo and a frigid trailer.
We drove back from Florida over the week end, the trip went fast and easy with two ride-perfect kids, but a sore neck (Fridman called me Terminator because I couldn't turn my head and had to twist my whole bust instead,) the result of a bad chiropractic move that woke up an old injury, kept me on the verge of tears until I remembered the wonders of anti-inflammatories. That and a food poisoning whose effects lingered for weeks (Dylan threw up for an entire night, not the best memory,) and a persistent, wrenching dry cough (a month and counting) that spread to the kids before we left, made for a somewhat difficult winter, even if we were spared the extreme cold that gripped the rest of the nation.
Now we're back home, and I can eat again, not to mention turn my head.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Dead fish and the new year.
Ft Myers, January 12, 2010.
It's been cold down here, unusually cold for an unusually long time.
Today we got brave and went to the beach - and found it strewn with dead fish. A passer-by informed us they were killed by the cold.
The new year slid in with no big news; the Peruvian family came and went, and so did Fridman, and so it's us four again. We got food poisoning, discovered a doctor of Chinese medicine who is from Britain and speaks French (and keeps us healthy) and keep unfurling our days following to the smaller ones among us.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
One tree.
December 17, Ft Myers.
The estate is full of trees and plants from around the world, impeccably tendered.
There was a fig tree, from India, all lighted up like a star.
Another world.
December 17, Ft Myers.
Forgot a visit to the Edison Ford Estate, bordering the Caloosahatchee river, over the avenue from our house and another world.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Home.
December 16, Ft Myers, Florida (not counting the miles anymore.)
More than a week in Florida, back into the summer we never had, Fridman took off the day after we arrived to go finish a job at Kelly Miller, my mother is here again, they crossed paths at the airport, the boys are high intensity, and the house is starting to slowly feel like a home, the woman at the laundromat greets me like a regular, you look nice today with the makeup, she did too, she'd let her hair down, it has taken the feel of home, we went to visit the arts elementary school a few blocks away, the Spanish teacher is from Peru, it may be home one day, faster than I know.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Kentucky days.
November 27, Covington, Kentucky (410 miles.)
We're at Matt's, it's getting cold, I get up before everybody to be alone with a book, or two, it's getting colder, driving around Kentucky then, steep little hills and a home on each of them like a nipple, bare trees, the navigation system says take the ferry but we go the opposite way along the Ohio river, gentler countryside, cool towns, we hurry home to Matt and fixing the world over a beer (for the guys.)
We're at Matt's, it's getting cold, I get up before everybody to be alone with a book, or two, it's getting colder, driving around Kentucky then, steep little hills and a home on each of them like a nipple, bare trees, the navigation system says take the ferry but we go the opposite way along the Ohio river, gentler countryside, cool towns, we hurry home to Matt and fixing the world over a beer (for the guys.)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Poems, free.
November 25, Columbia, Missouri (340 miles.)
A few hours of being kids-free, back in Columbia, waking early to slip out of the house when they sleep, walking the streets of my graduate school days, reading E.E. Cummings at the Ragtag Café, chance-meeting Sally's friend April there, and her partner, Sam, reminds me of a lost love, or is it an actor who looked like my long-lost love, it's cold and the coffee is strong and warms me, the poems are essential, but I'm just reading, enjoying, being.
In the house now, and I hear steps upstairs, in a second they'll rush down.
We're on our way to Florida by way of my past and maybe our future.
Next stop Kentucky.
A few hours of being kids-free, back in Columbia, waking early to slip out of the house when they sleep, walking the streets of my graduate school days, reading E.E. Cummings at the Ragtag Café, chance-meeting Sally's friend April there, and her partner, Sam, reminds me of a lost love, or is it an actor who looked like my long-lost love, it's cold and the coffee is strong and warms me, the poems are essential, but I'm just reading, enjoying, being.
In the house now, and I hear steps upstairs, in a second they'll rush down.
We're on our way to Florida by way of my past and maybe our future.
Next stop Kentucky.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Extra.
November 16, Hugo.
We celebrated again at night with Marcos, Castro and the third cake.
More candles.
Still four (but not for long already.)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Dylan turns four.
November 15, Hugo.
Yesterday was Dylan's birthday and we threw him a circus party with all the folks who are wintering here. The Rosales were here, and Dee Dee and Sam, Tavana and her family, and the Cainans, and of course our circus trailer park neighbors, the Moss family and Lucky Eddie and Vickie. Sheyla also came up from Dallas and cooked a Peruvian dish, the same Fridman had cooked the day Dylan was born, arroz con pollo. There were three cakes and plenty of presents, and Oscar had let us set up the bouncy bounce in front of the trailer too.
Dylan turned four, a little boy.
Wild time.
November 12, Hugo.
The kids and I spent a few days in Columbia, where I used to live, visiting my friends Greg and Sally. Dylan and Nicolas did a lot of singing and bouncing on beds, and Dylan a lot of painting, encouraged by wonderful wildly gentle creative Sally. The house is full of books, and elusive cats.
I miss Columbia but mostly Sally's joy and Greg's bear hugs.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Circus cemetery.
November 2, Hugo.
Yesterday John Moss and his family took Courtney, the kids and I to see the Hugo cemetery, where there is a section, marked "circus" on a small white and red cemetery sign, devoted to circus people.
From circus owners to performers and down to animal handlers, the genealogy of Hugo the self-proclaimed "circus city" is there, and the tomb markers are often surprising.
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
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