Summer 2011

Praying Mantis on top of the City Museum
St. Louis, MO

  The season is about to wind down here in a few weeks and I have to say, in all it has been a very good year for my kids and me.  This show is very unique in the sense that there is a strong feel of family, even between those who are not related.  Since this was my first season on the road by myself, I'm thankful for the having spent the year here for that very reason.  There really is a sense of community & welcome mixed with fun on the off-time and a spirit of hard work to make the shows happen. 


Right to left: "Stilts" Volponi, Melvino, me
front: Tootie, Georgia, Noah & Lana.
Karina, Gg and Angel Perez joined us on our
night time adventures!

 One of many summer community pool trips



  In the last few months since I've posted on my blog we've traveled through Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois where we always have the pleasure of meeting up with circus fans who give us stellar treatment.  Many times this season we have been greeted my welcoming fans who bestow goodies and good cheer.  It is appreciated more than they know.  This part of the country is very beautiful and the trips from town to town in our Midwestern run are usually pretty short and flat.  That's a nice change of pace from the mountainous regions we maneuver in the first several months of the tour.  The summer seemed pretty short but the heat was manageable.  The lush green lots in MN and WI do give way to the dreaded giant mosquitoes in the evening.  We fought that battle with plenty of Off and citronella candles.  Summer on the circuses also mean trips to Culver's for ice cream, walks (and jogs) through parks where the kids burn off the energy I wish I had and community pools.  When the community pools were scarcely found, my brother-in-law Ron and I would set up our inflatable pools side by side for all the kids to splash around.  We made good use of them this year, in fact Georgia's whale-shaped pool finally met it's end at the end of summer, no doubt due to excess use! The last few weeks we spent time in Missouri where we met up with old friends and some former C&M co-workers I hadn't seen in a while.  It's always more fun to catch up in person than on Facebook. We spent a few days in the St. Louis area where we took not one but TWO trips to the City Museum!  What fun...for children of all ages!  I can't describe what it's like...it's an old shoe factory that's been turned into a kind of indoor family amusement climbing place.  You can climb on almost anything there.  There are arts & crafts rooms, giant fish tanks, caverns and  many unique slides. My favorite was the 10 story indoor spiraling slide!  There was also a circus display and a magic show that we caught just in time for Georgia to be chosen from the audience as the lovely assistant! Boy, would Dad be beaming with pride!  I was!  On the roof of building sits a Ferris wheel where Noah & Lana comforted me as I white knuckled my way through that ride.  There's a giant roof-top slide that we enjoyed over & over...I got a heck of a friction burn on my elbow from that slide!  There's a school bus that hangs partially over the corner of the building where you can sit and enjoy your food and/or drink and another super fast small slide I was too chicken to navigate. A giant statue of a praying mantis sits on top of it all that just looks too cool.  We were all so exhausted after our final trip to the museum and talked about hopefully returning next year as we hadn't scratched the surface of what the City Museum has to offer. Rest assured, we came home with souvenirs-a-plenty!  Definitely a season high-point!

  Along with the excess activity comes excess physical ailments from time to time.  We've fared everything from summer colds to pulled muscles and trips to the chiropractor.  My sister Robin and I have both had siactic nerve problems this year.  She threw herself off kilter by getting in the driver's side of her truck "with gusto," as she put it, and has been paying the price and the chiropractors for the last couple of months.  My left hip has been acting up from carrying Toot around on that side.  Since I'm right-handed she always goes on my left and as a result have made a few trips to get adjusted.  The last doctor was able to treat Robin & I on the same visit which was convenient and kind of fun.  This chiropractor was very thorough and didn't treat us with one foot out the door, clipboard in hand.  She even treated my jacked-up shoulder with acupuncture which was painless and effective.  Robin and I will no doubt be making a few more visits to chiropractors before we hit home and will surely be pain free before winter quarters.
  This is our first day in Oklahoma and I have to say, it's a good feeling to near home.  The weather's turned rainy and the official first day of autumn is right around the corner. As my dad used to say, "Where do the ducks go?"
  South for the wintertime...

 More to come and thanks for checking in.





Finally had the pleasure of seeing circus fan/historian
Bill Prickett again after many years.