Rambles

It is strange. Time, distance, places, weather, people, all of them are strange.

By strange I don't mean anything mean. I mean unusual, weird, odd, in their own relative ways.

OK, by now you can tell I am going a little philosophical. Can't help it. I had a great night sleep last night. For the first time in two weeks I slept in the RV on a fairgrounds while they are setting up or tearing down the fair. The sounds of the tractor trailers, clanging tools, men shouting in English and Spanish, the fork lifts, and squeaky breaks, and a myriad of other sounds familiar and unique to the fair lulled me to sleep last night. I started off at the hotel but found the bed and the noises common to hotels just unbearable. So I drove the mile to the fairgrounds with Belle as my room mate and found home.

When we go "home" we strolled the grounds for a while and watched as hard working crews labored to bring a pile of metal and light bulbs to life in the form of a Ferris wheel or a Himalayan ride. I chatted with the mechanical bull man, a good Christian gent, about the ins and outs of life on the road and life as a Christian in today's world. Since we both work lots of fairs and festivals we have both seen it all! We pondered how and when did the rebel image of old become the norm. You know, sex before marriage, drugs, open depravity, etc, etc. I posed him a thought that my friend, Bill Jackson, posed to me a few weeks back, "With the things that were once considered rebellious now the norm being a strong stand-up Christian is makes you a rebel today."

After my chat with the bull man I met the night guard out here. It's always good to know the guards. He now knows who I am and will not have to worry when he sees me wander at night. And he knows who should not be in our area after hours.

Meanwhile Mami was back at the hotel getting Titus bathed with Miles' help and the little ones were all getting themselves ready for bed. The big kids were just out of the pool and getting on their computers to watch Muppets, Monty Python and the like on Youtube and email or call friends. Midori, being the only girl, though I think that is not the only reason for even when CC was here, prefers to spend her time alone. I worry her language skills might be one of the reasons she doesn't communicate and get closer to everyone in the group. She is a knock out performer and a really hard worker, but quiet.

I am writing this as the kids are outside the RV on our stage area practicing for today's shows. Nick and Lukas' families will be coming out this weekend. After all, they haven't seen each other for months and we are just 4 hours or so from home. There are some surprise guests coming too but I will write about that later.

I went over to get the kids a couple of hours ago but before bringing them out here Mami and I had a "date". We went food shopping and to the post office. It was sooooo romantic! Tonight we shall have Stirfry! Yum. Still shocked at prices out here but we were happy to find some deals on some stuff, so we stocked up. Fruit is a little cheaper here, though. And we all love our fruit.

No back to why I called all this stuff strange. It is hard to believe how fast and how slow this summer has gone by. We have made so many new friends and we re-acquainted with old friends, but had to say good bye so quickly. We went from 100 degrees to the high 50s back to 100 in the course of ten days. We've seen the Atlantic, the Rockies, the Catskills, the Pocono's, the Ozarks and Appalachians. We've been in natural caverns, and man made coal mines. We have been across the plains, over mountains, under the Chesapeake Bay, in the desert, and in numerous valleys and over numerous bluffs. We have eater weird things and wonderful things. We have all been through all kinds of emotional roller coaster rides. It's strange. But it's living. The idea of sitting in my office at home and staring at the walls as I wait for the next booking literally scares me. Wanderlust has grown in my blood and I like it. It's taxing on the mind and body, and the wallet in these days of Obamanomics. But I would think sitting and doing the exact same thing, knowing that the next day would be the same, and the day after that the same would drive me insane. No, I am not getting rich, just the opposite. And, No, I have no more fame than any other performer that passes through a town. I have bills up to my eyeballs, and vehicles falling apart under me. I have to close my eyes when I pick up a pack of meat to feed the crew so I don't see the price. I have to sigh and begrudgingly pay the gas station man when I fill our tanks. The same way I have to sigh and pay the tax man. But as an honest man I will not cheat the tax man nor the gas man. I fretted something awful the other day when I thought I had not paid for the box of baby wipes that was under my cart. I realized it in Arizona that night, some three hours later. The next day I got up and rechecked the receipt and to my relief I had paid for it. I was so tired I just didn't realize I had paid it.

I got a call for a booking for while I was home. It would be for a school carnival 80 miles from my home. I thought it would be a nice little extra money maker before we took off for Texas and New Mexico. After several email exchanges it turns out they only want to spend $100. They wanted our show with strollers for $100! WOW. Naturally I had to turn it down. If I had even performed the show alone I would have lost money. Many people don't realize the value of our show. perhaps those same people have no concept of value for anybody's work.

We have many offers for 2012 and it looks like it may be bigger than this year. But not all of those offers have heard our new rates. I think it is a great value for what they get but......

I think back to two years ago when Discovery followed us around at an event filming a sizzle reel only to say we were too milk toast for the public. Then I think of the hundreds of times this summer when fans insisted we needed to be on TV. I know they would've gotten a lot of pretty cool drama this year. Starting with that loose promoter, David Jackson, who stole all the performers and vendors' money, through the trials, tribulations, and exaltations of the season. If 19 and Counting can be a good show then The Kent Family would knock socks off. But there goes my ego. Oh well.

The philosopher, complainer, and circus boss has to sign off now. I have to run and get some mice for a snake.