April 10, Mountain View.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Fiesta.
April 9, Mountain Home.
The Poemas had a giant party tonight after the shows to celebrate both Cathy and Adrian's birthdays. Also Marcos and his son came up from Hugo to bring a truck over and take another back to winter quarters. They slept over at our house and left in the morning.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
The artists in the family.
April 9, Mountain Home.
Sara and I were talking and Dylan grabbed the camera.
The pictures I had just taken are not worth a penny, boring and predictable. His? Fresh, lovely. Dylan not only has a visual memory, but also a gift for anything visual I think, where Nicolas is all about orality (still the singer of the family.) Whatever their talents may prove to be, I am enjoying watching them develop their distinct skills and personalities, not to mention we've got great art for the trailer's walls.
A game of futbol.
April 8, Mountain Home.
Dylan loves to play soccer with Gordo and Nathan. Most of the times they tolerate him.
Friday, April 08, 2011
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Courtney news.
April 7, Batesville.
Courtney has been doing fine, her foot has heeled completely and she has jobs lined up until next summer.
It was so good to see her again. In spite of our considerable age and interest differences she's about the only friend I ever had on the show that I could sit down with for a cup of tea and chat the time away; we just connect. She's been working dates as a show girl with Rebecca for about a month; they were on their way for a Shrine date in Little Rock over the week end and stopped for a visit.
Until next time on the circus road.
The remains of the night (two years later.)
April 7, Batesville.
It's two years later, but John's still twenty-nine.
John's birthday.
April 7, Batesville.
It was John Moss' birthday yesterday and for the first time since we've been on this show they invited the whole circus over for the occasion. Courtney and Rebecca were also visiting for the day so it was good to unwind.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
A good day.
April 5, Malvern.
Dylan did school this morning in the trailer, then Sam was at Gigi's and they both came over and made Playdo fish with the boys. Then everybody went on outside to play and they were there a long time, gathering caterpillars and playing in the mud. When the boys came home they crashed in a second, Dylan on his bed and Nicolas against my shoulder. They were out for almost three hours and I did some work.
A good day.
The spirit of America.
April 5, Malvern.
Two anonymous comments on "The incredible story of Brian's burn" had me spinning last night (we had no internet until yesterday.) Both wrote about my criticizing the American health care, the first ordering me to "go back to France" and the second saying that nothing was free.
Whoever wrote the second comment is right: the health care issue had no place in that post. This was Brian's story and Brian's story only, and it was disrespectful to Brian to have mixed it in there (I have changed the post accordingly.) Brian's story is the story of an incredible twist of fate, but also of grace, guts and resilience, a very American way of dealing with life's tough cards.
This is a country that I have loved passionately for over twenty years, warts and all. And in the end this is what this blog is about, this passion for America, the circus just a piece of the whole, the American people, the American landscape. I want to be Walt Whitman and sing its song, sing the mountain ranges and the California woods, the plains of Kansas and the pulse of New York, I want to be Faulkner and delve into the soul and the depths of the South, I want to be Jim Harrison and meander through the Western wilderness, I want to be Mark Twain and travel down the Mississippi, I want to be Walker Evans and celebrate the beauty of those left behind, Richard Avedon and paint the many faces of this land I have called home for half my life, and that I carry around wherever I am like a double skin, a country that elected Barack Obama, a nation I among many admire for the indomitable vitality that defines it and the courage it offers in adversity, but that one should never cease to challenge for its shortcomings, for that would be a disservice to its very spirit.
And health care is such an essential issue that it deserves all the debate we can give it.
No, there is no such thing as a free lunch (that great American expression,) and I certainly never suggested health care systems in other countries, France or otherwise, were free. The French system is paid for mainly through income taxes, which are lower for lower incomes but higher for higher incomes than in the US. Each country's system is very different from the other and all have many flaws, but each and everyone of them has in common that everyone is covered at a much lower overall cost than in the US. So it is mind-boggling for me, not to mention intensely frightening now that I have children, that this amazing country, one of the richest countries in the world, in both natural and human resources, is so incredibly behind on this issue, with millions uninsured and badly managed, skyrocketing costs. President Obama's bill was drained down to just a small step but it is nevertheless an important one, and I can only hope that it is only the beginning.
The second anonymous person went on to regret my "constant jabs at Christianity," and here I am left utterly baffled.
Never have I made a secret that I am an agnostic and have never believed in any gods, but neither have I ever intended to disparage Christianity or any other religions; they fascinate me, and inspire me with a deep respect. This sense of the numinous, from the Latin numina, or spirits, the foundation of all religions, this need of humanity from the beginning of times to find the source of their wonder, has always held a strong hold on my searching, doubting mind. So the comment had me almost sleepless last night trying to figure out where I would even have mentioned Christianity; all I could find was an entry two years ago on the Fourth of July about my kids having to recite the pledge of allegiance, and say "so help me god," an issue on which I have come to a change of mind since.
So coming out of hiding would be courteous but also useful: I could take a good nap, and then we could have an open, raucous, gutsy debate - the American way.
Two anonymous comments on "The incredible story of Brian's burn" had me spinning last night (we had no internet until yesterday.) Both wrote about my criticizing the American health care, the first ordering me to "go back to France" and the second saying that nothing was free.
Whoever wrote the second comment is right: the health care issue had no place in that post. This was Brian's story and Brian's story only, and it was disrespectful to Brian to have mixed it in there (I have changed the post accordingly.) Brian's story is the story of an incredible twist of fate, but also of grace, guts and resilience, a very American way of dealing with life's tough cards.
This is a country that I have loved passionately for over twenty years, warts and all. And in the end this is what this blog is about, this passion for America, the circus just a piece of the whole, the American people, the American landscape. I want to be Walt Whitman and sing its song, sing the mountain ranges and the California woods, the plains of Kansas and the pulse of New York, I want to be Faulkner and delve into the soul and the depths of the South, I want to be Jim Harrison and meander through the Western wilderness, I want to be Mark Twain and travel down the Mississippi, I want to be Walker Evans and celebrate the beauty of those left behind, Richard Avedon and paint the many faces of this land I have called home for half my life, and that I carry around wherever I am like a double skin, a country that elected Barack Obama, a nation I among many admire for the indomitable vitality that defines it and the courage it offers in adversity, but that one should never cease to challenge for its shortcomings, for that would be a disservice to its very spirit.
And health care is such an essential issue that it deserves all the debate we can give it.
No, there is no such thing as a free lunch (that great American expression,) and I certainly never suggested health care systems in other countries, France or otherwise, were free. The French system is paid for mainly through income taxes, which are lower for lower incomes but higher for higher incomes than in the US. Each country's system is very different from the other and all have many flaws, but each and everyone of them has in common that everyone is covered at a much lower overall cost than in the US. So it is mind-boggling for me, not to mention intensely frightening now that I have children, that this amazing country, one of the richest countries in the world, in both natural and human resources, is so incredibly behind on this issue, with millions uninsured and badly managed, skyrocketing costs. President Obama's bill was drained down to just a small step but it is nevertheless an important one, and I can only hope that it is only the beginning.
The second anonymous person went on to regret my "constant jabs at Christianity," and here I am left utterly baffled.
Never have I made a secret that I am an agnostic and have never believed in any gods, but neither have I ever intended to disparage Christianity or any other religions; they fascinate me, and inspire me with a deep respect. This sense of the numinous, from the Latin numina, or spirits, the foundation of all religions, this need of humanity from the beginning of times to find the source of their wonder, has always held a strong hold on my searching, doubting mind. So the comment had me almost sleepless last night trying to figure out where I would even have mentioned Christianity; all I could find was an entry two years ago on the Fourth of July about my kids having to recite the pledge of allegiance, and say "so help me god," an issue on which I have come to a change of mind since.
So coming out of hiding would be courteous but also useful: I could take a good nap, and then we could have an open, raucous, gutsy debate - the American way.
Morning drives.
April 3, Idabel.
The morning drives, alone with the road and the coming day, how I missed them I suddenly discover, incredulous.
The morning drives, alone with the road and the coming day, how I missed them I suddenly discover, incredulous.
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