The Last Two Days

Right this minute, I have the east window open here in the office/tv room... and I am 

listening to frogs croak in our own yard!  The whole east side is now swamped... 

and we definitely are now planning a rain garden on this side. 

There's the grainy view through the window again, looking down on the "pond"... which I ALWAYS WANTED at our old house.  

We aren't going to fight it, but embrace it, though we have a lot of learning to do. 

We do have an electrician coming on Friday to hang some lanterns for us on the front of the house... and we are going to ask him to give us a quote on removing that large electrical box so close to the wet. 

I have been watching birds bathe in it all day long, to my delight. 

Here was our dinner tonight... this is the first time in my life I have EVER made enchiladas! 

Thanks to Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, who put a recipe for chicken enchiladas on her 

blog yesterday that I happened to see through Facebook... and I adapted the recipe for beef (hamburger). 

I sauteed the onions just as she said... and oh, my... the darn things were good. 

Our problem is that I made four, and we can each only eat one... so I know what my lunch will be 

tomorrow. 

This is also a recipe I'll use when Haleigh and Chris are up in a few weeks to work at the old house. 

They'll love it. 

I dressed them up with some chopped tomato and sour cream on top.  

Look what I got to do yesterday, on the spur of the moment! 

I went to the library in Leavenworth about 1:30... we have had rain off and on for the last two days, so I have been working indoors... 

and I happened to see the billboards for one of my favorite circuses in the world, 

Carson and Barnes.  They were JAMMED into a small lot of a now almost defunct shopping center in Leavenworth. 

I went back for the 4:30 show, after calling Keith and letting him know what I was doing. 

The trucks carry the stringers, the seating sections. 

This lot is small, and was crowded full of tents, the pony sweep, the menagerie top... and various children's games, along with the crew quarters and the individual performer's rigs. 

There was very little walkup, so the small ticket wagon was used... it was sprinkling when I got there at 3:30, and it commenced to rain steadily.  The house was small. 

These two young boys appeared to be twins... their dad had a pole on his shoulders, and they had shinnied up it, and did headstands, while their mom styled beneath.  

They also juggled very well... and did a walkaround in the opening number.  

There were dancing girls... and you can see the top of the "top"... with it's pretty stars. 

There was a slack-wire artist... 

And above him, a few minutes later, a Washington trapeze act done by 

the older brother of the two little boys above that was very good. 

The Globe of Death. 

There had been a notice outside that the elephants would not be performing yesterday.  Carson and Barnes used to carry 30 elephants on the road, it was really something to see.  They also performed in three rings, and are now down to one. 

I heard the "bulls" in back of the tent, and looked up the crowded lot... their menagerie tent was set up farther to the back of the lot, and since it was raining, I did not walk around to see them.  I wondered if they did not show because of the rain and crowded lot. 

The only animals in the show were some wonderful performing poodles... and 

the other "human" acts were so good... that was enough. 

At one time, I could have told you the names of every family appearing on this show during the summer... but not anymore... Time has passed me by. 

This shot of the jugglers is made up of a family who did three other acts in the show (see the two boys again?) 

The show ended not with the elephants, but with the Flying Cavallinis,   a famous group that was led in years past by Teri Cavallini, who, if memory serves me right, was the first American woman to do a triple somersault.  They performed for years at Circus Circus in Las Vegas... and now, Francesca Cavallini not only flies... but also is featured in two numbers singing. 

Here's the passing leap, for your pleasure: 

If you look closely in this short video, you will see that the big Super Trouper lights have been covered with plastic.  By the time the girls were on the fly bar, the rain was pouring outside.  During the season, the top canvas begins to develop small holes as it is loaded and unrolled, put up, and then rolled up again.  The rain was coming in the pinholes and the place where the quarter poles held the tent up. 

The electricians moved to cover the lights, but it was dangerous for the fliers. 

As the show ended, there were wet spots around the tent.  

My guess is that the 7:30 show was cancelled... I would not have been surprised.  I drove home in rain, and it rained all night and half of today. 

Carson and Barnes has gone on now to Illinois... in fact, to the area in Lake County where Keith and I lived while he was on his final year of duty.   I'm glad I had a chance to see it and take a 

short Circus Vacation!