Cainan moments - Mom's here.

October 4, Oquawka.

Genevieve was asleep when Natalie came back from her act but soon woke up. Juggling a six-year-old and a six-month-old baby in a small trailer while working and traveling takes stamina, yet Natalie says she wouldn't have it any other way. The circus is the most family friendly way to raise a child, she says, your kids are with you all the time, it's not like town people who only get to see them when they come home at night.

Cainan moments - reminiscences.

October 4, Oquawka, Illinois (31 miles, 8th and Pike.)

Oquawka boasts an elephant grave, and it turns out the animal belonged to Myrna's family circus.
It was struck by lightning during a storm, some thirty years ago. Armando's mother was working with the circus at the time, and Armando must have been a baby. As he was getting ready for his act he came over to the Cainans to ask Casey the name of the elephant handler and Casey had to call a friend of his as neither he, Natalie or Armando could put their finger on it.
There was much exclamation when the name was finally produced.

Perspectives (the Mississippi river.)

October 4, Oquawka.

A trailer with a view.

October 4, Oquawka, Illinois (31 miles, 8th and Pike.)

Natalie in blue.

October 3, Aledo.

A trailer with a view.

October 3, Aledo, Illinois (53 miles, fairgrounds.)

Kate.

October 2, Kewanee.

Kate arrived in McHenry, looking for work, and is now doing odds and ends, appearing at the opening, finale and Luawana Ladies dance, helping in the kitchen on days Chucho works.

Heels, flats, and the evolution of circus life.

October 2, Kewanee.

Rain or shine.

October 2, Kewanee.

Incredibly, under freezing rain, the circus is full.
The horse act was canceled at the last minute because of slippery conditions. Natalia was already backstage with Argenio tucked in his car seat; she and Armando walked home to their living quarters in the Marathon under the rain, and Patsy donned a robe against the cold.

Behind the scenes moment - the buddy latch.

October 2, Kewanee.

Cold.

October 2, Kewanee.

Winter crowds.

October 2, Kewanee.

Sales have been poor these past few days, maybe because of the unseasonal cold. It's even colder today, winter upon us all of a sudden, and the crowd of school children that flocked to see the tent being raised this morning soon left.
I hope showtime attendance is better.

A trailer with a view.

October 2, Kewanee, Illinois (64 miles, next to Finish Line Auto Sales.)

Cold front.

October 1, Amboy.

Gilda ran backstage for the horses act as rain started to lash down.
The day has been miserable, filled with cold and wind and rain.

Morning drive.

October 1, Amboy.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

October 1, Amboy.

A trailer with a view.

October 1, Amboy, Illinois (22 miles, 4H center.)

The unbearable falseness of pictures.

September 30, Oregon.

The sun came slanting through the trees and illuminated the soybean field with an exhilarating glow. The kind of light that makes you want to immerse yourself in it, delve in its warmth and beauty. But the pictures I took fell short; the light's magic wouldn't materialize on the image, it remained stubbornly elusive.
Roland Barthes came back to me then: pictures are not reality but translations of it, with many steps in the process filtering the interpretation. In my old trade, photojournalism, the pretense is strongest as images are presented as reality when they are only portrayals - at best interpretation and inspiration, at worst tools of manipulation.
I'm left with a glorious splash of memory.

Texture.

September 30, Oregon.

Georgia.

September 30, Oregon.

Dylan likes Georgia a lot and I can't blame him.