part 4 !

moving the puzzle

John Moss and family left for 10 days to say good bye and bury his mom .John Moss spoils us all, he makes sure the fan is on me perfectly when I perform trapeze , he goes out of his way to avoid conflict. He is very sensitive to our neurosis . He is very organized. On a show like this there are many elements to consider, the weather, storms, terrain. There are also the other people on the show who are doing their own dance in the time frame . He considers us all.He has an elegant presence. There is also his oldest son Johnny , Johnny is the man backstage ! keeps us mudfree in the mud and dry in the rain..everyone is missing Johnnies quiet perfection . I was almost the ringmaster for this period.. I was freaking out..this show is big and ..unless I have my 20 minutes to get into trapeze mode..scary for me.Very lucky for the show John Kennedy Kane was available . A talented, witty ,booming presence . John Kane aka Eggrole has a comedic 1 man show called " my life in the basement " . We laughed and cried..so funny sometimes sad . It is very brave when someone can expose their soul ! great theater and life story . Some nyc director saw his play and thought he would be brilliant as the ringmaster for Big Apple Circus ..timing is everything. He starts rehearsal in 2 weeks . Marshall and Eggroll met on the Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers Circus in 1978 or 1979 in "the day" of lots of musicians and lots of clowns and lots of showgirls . They both had crushes on the beautiful Dawnita .He has infused us, enlightened us and just doing his job packed some people. It has been a week of memory lane and the beginning of RED ASS DAYS. August is looming, the evil bitch of the circus . Why do people have RED ASSES ? something happens and irks someone so badly that they feel like they have hot coals packed up their asses, hence RED ASS DAYS . We will miss you Eggy and welcome back the Moss Family !

John Ringling North 2

a 4 part series on the Kelly Miller Circus by Lane Talbert

now that I have learned hot to embed videos I can correctly share Lane's storytelling and video interviews. Steve and Ryan

Brian Lehmann

Carolyn R taking a photo with my iphone (because I have lost/trashed camera number 4 )of an award winning photographer taking a photograph of me hanging by face. Pretty intense way to start the day . A team effort ..thanks for the experience

telling tales ! fun with Lane Talbert

I am enthusiastic..

Missing a piece of the puzzle

I suppose one could say the circus is a moving puzzle . Every night we break it into pieces and put it away . The next day we arrive in a new town and we put our puzzle together . The first few times are always made complicated by not seeing the simplicity and the obvious . After a while the pieces fit perfectly .Once in a while we get a different piece , the puzzle is always morphing .

Becky , why are you so broke ?

Well it's like this .. I have a knack for this sort of thing .. I don't pussyfoot around . I spend money like I mean it .
Today it was the sensor , pigtail exhaust assembly .. Made weird smoke BUT most important , Black Beauty couldn't shift very well ... I am so glad there is not Debtors prison , because I would live there . On the bright side I found a Ford dealer that fixed it today by 4.15 !! I only missed the camel dance !

Fresia the circus girl

I live with a circus girl . She is now brushing and saddling llamas, tying slipknots ,presetting her clothes and costumes, hanging out with the animal people on the midway..eeegads !! She likes working with animals..She is even trying out new behaviors with our doggies..that started to happen when she started helping in the dog act . hmm

Stretching

I didn't know how great a stretch could be !

Bob Cooley and team

once upon a time I was a young dancer I met Bob Cooley. He was one of my dance teachers and I danced in his dance company. If you are a dancer your instrument is you . It is pushed and challenged to the edge of everything known to humanity and beyond..It is your garment , your only garment. I think being a dancer is the noblest of all art forms . We are so fragile, a twisted knee and you are done for. No one can express and communicate with their body like a dancer...it is so fleeting. I suppose some people dream of being some kind of performer and never attain that elusive dream and become old and hateful and dislike joy and youth and everything good. What a ho hum sad time it must be..to never live even the littlest smidge of ones dream..I must be empathetic with such people not judge their fear of flying.. back to Bob Cooley..just google him !! Bob and some friends came to the circus. Their work is this incredible resistance stretching . They stretched some of us on the show . I got a new body for the show.. The next day I was sore in this crazy ass way..Bob and team work with some of the most spectacular athletes on earth. They came to visit me and stretched me and Marshall and others got a stretching treat .They rode elephants and camels and loved the circus..It was wonderful to connect with Bob after such a long time .

Towns

Everyday we drive about 50 miles to a new town , all 95 of us . We set up the big top , we take care of the animals , the children each other ( I use we collectively ) we do 2 shows and tear down and drive to the next town the next morning . Somedays we go for a walk to see the town ..

Margy and me

I really should be putting on some make up BUT we just had the greatest visit with my childhood friend Marguerite .I remembered all those great chilhood adventures that you want all children to have !! Margy gave me a haircut (catastrophe !), she brought me to gymnastics, we shared great novels , we danced, we had insane jump rope games, we painted, did calligraphy, had the best lime rickey in the world at the drug store on Thayer Street . I can't summarize my early magical childhood but there was a huge emphasis on the arts HUGE ! how great and important is art on this planet ? without art we are without expression..

Shipmate Ruby called for duty

Shipmate Ruby was called to action . She got a little cranky for a minute because hard work does not agree with her . After she looked at the big picture and thought about things she was very happy that at this moment in time she is , to the naked eye and as far as she knows , healthy .

Family

Nothing brings back family memories more than a cup of joe .ok , maybe I am excluding other things like oysters and swimming and being incredibly hysterical and loud at the dinner table. I am lucky my wonderful family brings me coffee when we are close by ( and the other stuff too)The last week has been filled with family and memories .
How lucky am I to have family and treasure chests full of memories .

Dunes

Horseneck Beach , Walden Pond..

Field trips..a field trip is anywhere off the circus lot. Many times it means going to a mall kind of place, because teens love that stuff. I decided as a responsible adult we needed to see some places that I thought had some kind of importance . It's the least I can do .I have a mission "we have to go there because it is fantastic and I love it"! First on my list was/is Horseneck beach, it is so beautiful , the dunes , the grasses , the smooth rocks, the strong current . Going to that beach was a major treat as a child , I loved it more than going to Newport , I loved the crazy intense riptides , the undertow, the crashing waves. We spent our summers on the Sakonnet River . A salt water river with a ho hum current and NO WAVES unless we had storms . Field trip # 2 Walden Pond !! HELLO , can you say Thoreau ?? When I wasn't wrestling bluefish or riptides in Buzzards Bay, catching eels and quahoging or swimming across the Sakonnet river ( only 1/2 mile from Common Fence Point to Tiverton, RI ). I would have somehow wrangled a ride to Walden Pond with all my teen friends. We never swam at the public park . We would walk halfway around and swim where it was dark and dangerous and probably forbidden.Going to Walden with friends today was just lovely.. I didn't realize what a mecca it was..what do I know ?

It wasn't like this when I was a little girl...