Happy Mother's Day

joie de vivre

In the summer of 1990, We vacationed at our cottage in central Wisconsin.  At the same time, Gail's cousin was summering at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo.  It's a pretty cool place if you've never been there.   

We were in the stands watching the trapeze artists perform and you could just see my Mom looking on with envy.  Then the emcee started his call for volunteers.  "Does anyone want to try the trapeze?"

I reached over to raise her hand.  I'm not certain if I got her hand up first or she got her hand up first, but when the emcee saw this lady in her mid-fifties volunteer, he jumped on it.

Spry as a kitten, she climbed the ladder and stood there while they strapped the safety belt on her.  When they were ready to go, she calmly stepped off into the air and started to swing.

The crowd was delighted.  There she was, swinging back and forth in the air.  The emcee was trying to talk to her to tell her what to do, but she was in her own world.  She swung back and forth being the star of the circus.  Finally, when she got tired, she called out that she was ready to get down.  They lowered her to the net in a round of thunderous applause.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. 

Circus Memories

One of Gail's cousins ran off and joined the circus.  Really!

Sorry Roy, the elephants always wanted to be in front

Both Gail and I have a horde of cousins, and one of her cousins, Roy, joined the circus when he was young.  He found out he was good with animals, so started training them.  He gradually worked his way up to training elephants.

Being in the circus, he was always traveling around the country, so every couple of years the circus would come to town and we would visit Roy.  And of course, when we went to the circus, Roy treated us like royalty, including the obligatory elephant ride. There's nothing like a good circus to bring out a smile in a kid.

I was reminded of this recently when Ringling Brothers retired their elephants due to pressure by animal rights activists.  I can't say I agree or disagree with them, but I do remember that Roy loved his elephants.  He treated them with respect and cared for them as best he could.  I remember he got mad at one of the handlers when he thought they were treating his elephants poorly.

He's retired now from his circus life and living happily with his family, but I'll always remember his hospitality when the circus came to town. Thanks, Roy.