The Circus Comes to Town

The circus came to town yesterday. A little Shriner's circus set up it's rings in the high school gym. We took the kids. I wasn't sure how Ruby would respond, but she loved it. She got to see a real elephant, which thrilled her. She wanted to ride it, but I wouldn't let her. The elephants name was Duchess, and I was a little sad to see the old girl walking in circles around and around with a bunch of kids on her back. She should have been in some plains somewhere, Africa maybe, roaming with her friends. Here's Ruby watching.



The shows were more interesting than I expected them to be. The clowns came out to get the crowd going, tossing these giant balls into the stands.



Ruby kept wanting to get closer and closer. Nick took her down to the ring to see the pony ride. Surprisingly, she didn't seem to want to ride the little ponies.



A lady with the worst fake fall I've ever ever seen in my life was the master of ceremonies. She did this camel and pony review (honest.) The camels almost made me cry. She made them walk on their knobby knees. She had one horse that did the moonwalk which was pretty cool. Why is it that a trained camel breaks my heart and a trained horse doesn't so much?





















Death Defying looses something when the tightrope walker is less than six feet off the ground. This poor guy, Fletcher, fell and hurt his knee about five seconds after I took this picture.




















This couple from Romania were really talented. We were sitting so close that you could totally see the athleticism that goes into an act like this. That little woman is one tiny bundle of giant muscles. The MC announced in an ominous voice that they were doing this foot to foot trick without any safety gear. That guy kneeling under them could have given her a Spiderman-type upside down kiss if he'd stood up. It guess it wouldn't feel great to fall four feet.





















What circus is complete without the hula hoop girls in porn superstar outfits, complete with huge fake boobies.



















The trained poodles. The trainer had another show with his wife and kids. They did double dutch. I didn't get a good picture, but I wish I had. It was one of the best acts we saw.




















And Ruby's absolute favorite. The woman in the red cloth. I have no idea what to call this. Very cool. And right over our heads. Now this? This was death defying. She kept wrapping that cloth around her foot or waist and just hanging a good twenty or thirty feet up. And then she'd unwrap herself and come rolling toward the audience.




















We left after the intermission because Ruby was getting antsy. What we saw was well worth the price of a ticket. I still don't feel great about performing animals, though. Poor Duchess.