woman in hoop

I was home all day, doing some wedding stuff and some computer stuff (entering old expenditures and filing them) and even throwing away some old financial stuff. Becky came for lunch, thank goodness, and we had a lovely meal of chicken tagine and couscous, followed by cookies I had just made (butter-nut chip that I had waiting to slice and bake). We talked a lot and it made a good break. Nonetheless, I was a little brain-dead by the time it was 5 o'clock. It had been really rainy in the morning, although not at all cold, and began to clear late in the day.

Tanya brought Miles to the house, with money and a water bottle and instructions. We were supposed to leave at 5, but Ray and my Dad didn't pull up until a few minutes later. Ray was starving and made himself a quick sandwich. I ate cookies. We drove to the Gwinnett Center, where the circus was playing, and got there before 6:30, when the doors were supposed to open for the pre-show. We ate some expensive food (grilled chicken sandwich $6.75) and went down into the ring to see some of the performers up close, mainly jugglers. Miles seemed mesmerized. Then we went to our seats, buying popcorn and a big drink (for Ray).

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus is glitzy and exciting and a little bit old-fashioned. It is grandly billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth" and maybe it is. I did feel a little ashamed during the animal acts. Really, the best we can do to show our superiority is making elephants and tigers and even horses stand on their hind legs? Not to question the skill of the trainers, but isn't it kind of embarrassing to make beautiful intelligent creatures do things for our entertainment?

stilt walker

There were three rings, of course, so sometimes there were three different groups doing roughly the same kind of act, so everyone can get a good view, I guess. Like jugglers, for instance. The horses in one ring were miniature. But the performers were amazing. They did a lot of difficult things, as they have for generations. Tightrope wire? with bicycles and people on each other's shoulders? Check. An amazing family of tumblers in orange and red costumes. Check. People on ropes and in hoops hanging from the ceiling with no net? Check. This is similar to what they do here in town, at Trapeze, and we are lucky to have them. But this was a dozen people or more at the same time a long way off the ground. Two guys walking in spinning cages (like hamsters) and jumping back and forth between their cages. Just incredible stuff, one after the other. And a live orchestra or small band playing constantly. Dramatic announcements and clowns that did lots of acrobatics too. The children behind me were laughing a lot. A guy on really tall stilts and a lot of people on shorter, springy stilts, dancing.

elephants on the right

trying to take Miles' picture

Miles seemed to love it, but it was so new to him, he practically didn't know how to react. He had money to spend on something, but the stuff was crappy and ridiculously expensive. A plastic sword for $20! He didn't have that much money. The souvenir program was $12, so we didn't buy one, but now I wish I had, if it had the names of the acts in it. He finally settled on a snow-cone in a plastic cup that looked like a tiger--$12.

I marvelled at the logistics of putting something like this on, scheduling and the support staff.

We were home about 11. Miles had fallen asleep on the way home, by the time we were looking for "J" on the signs, playing the alphabet game. A very satisfying outing...And I woke up to daylight.