Well, I'm going to give this a try - Top Ten Thursday. Each week there is a theme and you are challenged to post your top ten thoughts. This week it's CIRCUS. Here I go...
- The smells - I don't remember that as a kid, I imagine kids don't pay any attention (at least in the 1950's we didn't), just like they don't notice the feeling of a salty body covered in sand at the beach. LOL!
- The elephants - they were SO BIG and SO POWERFUL but they made them dance. I was hypnotized.
- The clown car - how did they ever get all those clowns inside that teensy-tiny car?
- The trapeze artists - I always held my breath, afraid someone was going to miss and fall.
- Cotton candy - almost every child's magical concoction, melting in your mouth.
- The rides - we always had an associated carnival with the circus. My favorite rides were the ferris wheel and the tilt-a-whirl.
- The games - carnival games, that is. We rarely won anything but that was okay. It was all about the challenge.
- The crunch underfoot - peanut shells, tossed to the ground, pleasantly crunching underfoot.
- July 4th - the circus seemed to arrive just before or after the big holiday, at least in our neck of the woods.
- The noise - a cacophony of sounds, some pleasant, some not so much.
Now, what are YOUR favorite circus memories from childhood?
I loved the circus and it was a regular part of my childhood. We went each year when Barnum and Bailey came to town. I am a bit saddened by the fact that the circus has shut down. I understand about the concern over the animals, but they could have continued without animals and it would still have been fun.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was sad, too, but understand about the animals. Plus, todays kids want more glitx/glam/bling and technology. Sad to lose the simple pleasures...
DeleteI have no memories of going to a circus, we may have when I was too little to remember now. I know we always went to the country fair, which had the food and rides and games, and livestock judging (my favorite place was the livestock barns, you could pet the animals!) and art and plant exhibits. My daughter was born in 1993, some anniversary of Barnum and Bailey, and they sent her a ticket with no expiration. She early on became a very vocal opponent of circuses featuring animals (other than dogs), so she didn't use the ticket! Our country fair had the Olate Dogs from America's Got Talent a few years ago. They were amazing. I think circuses time has past. The carnivals at the fair are big, but circuses as they used to be just aren't the draw, not just because of the elephants. Now, if only fairs wouldn't have tigers on display...
ReplyDeleteAlthough I lived in a small town, it really wasn't rural being on the seacoast. I don't think I went to a county fair anywhere until I was an adults. I'm glad they are still around...kids need to be kids!
DeleteThanks for dropping and and commenting!
Wow, I forgot about the cotton candy and the crunch underfoot, seems like the circus experience is pretty universal whereever you are on the planet!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up, glad you had fun with this topic!
You forgot cotton candy? How can anyone forget that? LOL!
DeleteI definitely had fun and will join in more in the future.
I don't think we ever went to a true circus when I was a kid. County fair was maybe the closest. When I was in college, Cirque du Soleil - then still a big-tent circus set-up - came to Chicago and I went with my sister.
ReplyDeleteFast forward to... 4 years ago? 5? - and "The Univer-SOUL Circus" came through Indy where I was. My boyfriend (now husband) and I took 2 of my nieces and had a ball. There was all this jazzy, Caribbean music and activity, animal shows, acrobats, the normal stuff I'd heard about, but with fantastic flair! Loved it.
Cirque du Soleil is still on my bucket list....someday! Now "The Univer-SOUL Circus" sounds awesome! I'll have to look that up.
DeleteI think they're based out of the Caribbean somewhere.
DeleteKeep on writing, great job!
ReplyDelete