ALL THREE RINGS

ladies and gentlemen

boys and girls of all ages....

Presenting the "golden shovel" at a Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus
Your blogger is in the red hat-details below

     

    The sun was not up yet when my mother woke my brother and me and told us to get dressed because they had a surprise for us. Groggily we obliged and got into the car. After a short drive, dad pulled into a field near a rail road track where a line of train cars had stopped. From a block or two away we could hear and see commotion in the dawning gray light.

     Elephants were being led down a ramp from one of the cars as dozens of people scurried about. In the next hour we watched as poles were set, tents were erected, cages, equipment, rigging, and other paraphernalia were put in place. The circus had come to town. It was in fact the Greatest Show on Earth, as signage on the train, tents and outbuilding indicated.

     It was the early 50's and the beginning of my love affair with the Circus. As lad I saw the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey extravaganza a few times. One year I got to talk with the World's Tallest Man, another time I got spritzed by a clown. I held by breath as the men and women on the flying trapeze flew somersaults above our heads. I worried about the man with the chair in the Lion cage, thought the women on horses or elephants were the essence of beauty, laughed at the antics of the clowns as my head spun trying to take in all three rings full of color, dazzle and spectacle. We did not get our first television for a few years yet. It was a different world.

     Fast forward, decades. As a correspondent for a syndicated television magazine we found ourselves on the train with a Ringling Brothers traveling show. They put us up close to the clown cars. Despite the antics, gags and laughs we still had time to see behind the grease paint and glitz. Circus life was hard, constantly on the go, living either on a train or in a recreational vehicle, caring for the gear, animals, making repairs, putting up or taking down, trapped in a kind of traveling tube, day after day. It was a job, unique, but still work.

member of the Flying Farfans acrobatic team

photo courtesy of Costumdesignplans.com

    Later the Big Top began to give way to arenas and stadiums and week long stays. One year, as I anchored at an NBC affiliate, I made arrangements to take my eldest daughter "back stage" to Clown Alley to be made up in costume so she could march in the Clown Parade.  It was not until we there and ready to be costumed that she told me she was terrified of clowns. She'd never let on, until we were in a chair, ready for the paint. As I recall it was one of the Flying Farfans who offered to sit with Kristin as I joined the parade. I quickly learned my job was to walk behind the elephants and keep the path clean. You might be surprised how active the lower digestive track of an elephant can be in the short circuit around three rings. 

     The picture at the top finds me in the red hat being presented my keepsake Golden Shovel, for services rendered. I still have that shovel and have used it for years. Strong, durable and for the long haul. I am sorry The Greatest Show on Earth itself could not have been more durable, but for almost 150 years it not only offered the adolescent dream of running off with the circus, it presented spectacular, live entertainment without peer. Hollywood, Cirque du Soleil, virtual reality, television, games and big time sports have changed the world, rendering the Greatest Show on Earth a bit of an anachronism, but there is nothing like a 3 Ring Circus.

sunset on dignity

    Without comment on policy or politics, the departure of President Obama comes with a loss of dignity and class.  The Obama family has graced our national stage with a sophistication that we will miss. The administration is the first in modern history without a hint of scandal. They have conducted themselves in an exemplary manner. They did so in the face of rude and racist commentary and a bitter political environment. Remember how tough it was when it began with the pledge by a jack ass that the republican's primary job was to guarantee a failure of the administration? Despite what one may think of his politics, Obama served  as a man of character and gravitas. Get ready for a change.

     Speaking of a circus! It remains hard to believe that a man who began his political rise by accusing President Obama of not being born in the US and who himself is a sexual predator, serial liar, tax cheat and a narcissist could get anyone to vote for him. How people could suspend the truth about the vulgarian to think he is capable of leading this nation is frightening. Well, stand back, the swamp is coming to the White House.  

     See you down the trail.

THE ORACLE

oracle speaks

     

      We return to the other side of the mirror where the great hoot and toot Tumble continues. 

      They've gone to seek the words of the oracle.

      The oracle regards the principal combatants in the Tumble, the Shelion and the Cheeto Vulgarian.

      She reads the scene.

       What will come is from the past. Who you are shapes who you will be. This is what I see.

      Some would rather support an insensitive, serial liar, who ridicules and demeans, who has uttered racist, sexist, bigoted remarks, who completes a full sentence or complex thought when it is written for him, who has no government experience, who is a full blown egoist and a practitioner of egoism, accused of cheating employees and former partners, who has taken advantage of bankruptcy law for a profit and who brags about it, who's businesses have been charged with fraud, who exports jobs to low paying foreign markets, who has no foreign policy experience, who does business with Russian interests, who celebrates strongman and king of the oligarchs Vladimir Putin, who also is known to encourage violence, who is a hustler and deal maker, and other such credential

       than

      an unpopular education and child welfare advocate, first lady, Senator, Secretary of State, who has been hounded  for decades by right wing pressure, alleged to be an opportunist, accused of scurrilous judgement by those who think differently, who's motivations are so frequently second guessed she is closed, guarded and has trouble with being authentic, who was subjected to a multi million dollar, multi year investigation by a special prosecutor that brought not even a whiff of a charge, FBI investigated and passed, who wants to make history, is a Methodist grandmother who's husband is a former president and an historic philanderer

     These are strange alternatives, how did this come to be?

      "It is complicated" the chorus replied. "But there is much anger among us."

       This is obvious. Trying to compare these two is like comparing apples and pizza rats.
        Look at what the cosmic tea leaves show you. See who these people are. What you see is what you get.
       It appears those who are angry and who will vote for the Cheeto Vulgarian betray the principles of decency in exchange for a change. The change that follows a motivation of such anger will bring about more anger, and on itself too. 
       You release dark forces when you celebrate such self idolatry, dishonesty, insensitivity and hatred. When you give power to the most base of instincts and use such inappropriate behavior you lower your worth and value and make the horrible possible. History shows that, time and time again. 

       Disliking the Shelion is not a reason to vote for the Cheeto Vulgarian. No dislike or distrust can be worth going back on the values a nation professes. 

           "Oh, we are worried. There seems to be so much lunacy here," the chorus said in parting.

      When they left,the oracle ordered a drink,  "make that a double!"

       And all of this just on the other side of the mirror.

       See you down the trail.

           

   

THE BRIDGE & THE WRITERS BLOCK

WRITERS BLOCK

    It was chilling, prompting a sense of foreboding.

    "Get 'em outta here!  Get 'em outta here!" commanded Donald Trump at a recent rally beset by protestors. Trump had been bragging that he would claim "40%" of Sanders voters when the clamor began.

     There are smarter and elder political analysts and journalists but I have not seen a more viscerally divisive presidential candidate since George Wallace, who's campaigns I covered and who I interviewed. It is odd to write this, but Wallace was eminently more qualified than Donald Trump. Wallace was a self admitted segregationist. He was a racist and a hate monger. Trump is worse. He has no policy positions, no electoral or government experience, is fueled by  ego, rides a wave of anger and appeals to the worst in America.

       An important message to the nation was sent by 450 of our top writers.You can link here to read their open letter to the American people. While I think Trump is a danger to the Republic in many ways he is also like the canary in the coal mine, a warning of sorts.

      American politics is broken and people are rightfully angry. Our wrath should be directed at the big money that has turned politicians into whores. We should be furious with the increasingly selfish nature of those who lobby and who have turned government into commerce. A loud mouth and insensitive sexist, racist, ego freak with no government experience and an appalling lack of familiarity with international complexity and who is a bully is not the way to change what infects us.

      Why do you think we have become a nation with so much fear, anger, selfishness and with a lack of a desire for common good? Why are people taking to Trump? 

      As you ponder and respond, take a moment to consider what some of our brightest have said. The warnings are becoming more numerous.

RAIN ROCKS

    Every time we drive the majestic Highway 1 we marvel at the engineering that produced the road with spectacular views including here in the Big Sur area.

    Highway cuts, switchbacks and  bridges--there are natural challenges to keeping traffic moving. The frame below is a recent overhead look at what locals call Rain Rocks. 

   This is an area that frequently was closed, due to slides of the mountain onto the narrow patch of the Pacific Coast Highway.

  You can see how the tunnel like structure is built into the mountain and shelters the road from boulders and rocks that  litter the roof.

   It is an amazing structure and engineering masterpiece that we watched be pieced together over the last 4 years. 

   The previous frames speak to the massive size of the structure. But in the frame below it dwarfs into just one more pass on an extraordinary road.

    See you down the trail.