The Greates Show on Earth

Lucy and I took our grandson, JJ, to the Circus yesterday. We made sure to get there an hour and a half earlier than the performance time so that JJ would get to see the elephants, lions and zebras before the show. What I didn’t know was that we would also get to have a chance to sit right down on the floor of the circus in one of the “rings” for a children’s close up version of the circus. The clowns went around and acted silly for all the children, the pretty lady would do acrobatic tricks suspended in the air very close to where we all were sitting, the tight rope act was set up only a few feet off the floor where the kids could see every thing they were doing. In all it may have been a better show for the kids than the one we saw from our regular seats, not that it wasn’t a great show either.

JJ wanted some cotton candy that came in a funny looking circus hat, something I might not have purchased for my own kids; being a grandparent relaxed the stingy side of my wallet just a little. We all took turns wearing the hat and getting all sugared up on cotton candy. We also bought a large canister of lemonade that we all shared during the show.

I have no idea how much of the performance JJ was able to take in, there was so much going on. We were right next to one of the dare devil acts where they climbed on top of these very tall flexible poles and would sway all around while doing hand stands or hanging by some kind of hand grip. They even transferred from one pole to the other; very exciting to watch. I enjoyed watching in the shadows as the lion “pit crew” tried to keep up with the steady stream of lions exiting the performance cage into the line of wheeled cages. The trapeze acts, the high wire acts and all the clowning around made for a good time.

They had one act where the clowns were suspended upside down, way up in the air, all the props were upside down and the effect was done so well. They pretended to bounce balls, in reverse, then they did a juggling act; again it was upside down, and throwing things in the trash can, also upside down made it a very clever routine. They had four motorcycles inside a big round sphere doing fancy spinning and maneuvers to end the show. About the only thing missing, at least from my old recollection of going to the circus, was the man being shot out of the cannon. The best part of the show, for me anyway, was seeing JJ smile and laugh as he enjoyed being with his grandparents.