So if you decided to leave home and join the circus, what would you be? Trapeze artist? Clown? Tiger Tamer? That was the question of the hour as we left the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus last night, still reveling in the spectacle of the self-proclaimed Greatest Show on Earth. I knew right away what Noah’s answer would be. His face lit up when he saw the human canon balls preparing to close the show. That was it for him. He said the whole thing was great, but human canon ball? Come on. It doesn’t get any better than that.
For me, this question required some careful thought. Dangling from a trapeze or prancing on a high wire would turn my stomach, and although I often feel like a wild animal tamer, you would not get me into that fenced ring with a bunch of snarling tigers. No, I think I would have to be a clown by default, not that being a clown is easy. Have you seen the way little kids look at clowns? (See top photo above, where Chiara gives the death stare to the clown who had just signed our program) As far as I’m concerned, just taking the girls to the public rest room at the arena was daring enough for my taste, thank you.
One of the best parts of the night was the “interactive” pre-circus show that took place on the floor amid clowns and acrobats and elephants. We stood just a few feet away from Asia the elephant as she circled the ring, forcing Chiara to move back pretty quickly as the big grey trunk came within just a foot or two or her face. The whole thing was pretty spectacular. And Olivia? Well, she just beamed from ear to ear for about three hours straight, which pretty much summed up our Mother’s Day celebration.
