May 2: Edie and I attended the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus. Edie's nephews, who have gone to the circus in the past couple of years, had gotten wind of the fact that their Auntie Edie had never been to a circus. They asked their mom, "Can Auntie Edie come with us this year?" Of course, their mom, Jo-ann, said yes and pointed out that Auntie Donna would have to come, too.

The whole thing was planned and the tickets purchased without Edie having any knowledge of it. I learned of the plans back in March on the day I watched the two boys, which was just before Edie's infection flared up out of control and landed her in the hospital. Because of that, the ability for her to go to the circus had become a wait-and-see situation with her... of course, she was still unaware that anything was even planned for that night.

Saturday, May 2, happened to be on the first weekend that Edie actually felt good and was eager to go out and be active, so it was easy to persuade her that we ought to go visit her brother's family. When we reached Providence, though, I turned off the highway and headed into the city, which puzzled the heck out of her. I just said we were running a little ahead of time, so I felt like killing some time by making a quick swing through the city. She was totally not expecting it when she saw her sister-in-law and nephews out in front of the Dunkin Donuts Center. The surprise was on her, for sure, as her nephews laughed at how well the whole surprise was being played out.

After finding a real convenient parking place less than a block away, we all met up again and went inside. This was the first time Edie had ever been to a circus and I hadn't been to one since the 70's and, boy, have things changed. The three-ring circus is now an occasional two-ring circus with mostly a one-ring circus. There are still acrobatics, animal acts, and clowns, but a lot more leans toward entertainment than skills, although the skills themselves are still amazing to behold. This circus tour is known as "Zing, Zang, Zoom", and it featured a number of magical acts with a lot of music, dancing, and costumes to go along with it. Most clowns wear updated costumes, so the clown image that most of us are familiar with is more the exception than the rule. Human cannonballs are fired out of double-barrel cannons, aerialists perform gracefully in the style of Cirque du Soleil shows, and the action is non-stop. It did turn out to be a lotof fun and Edie was most appreciative for her gift. I, who have been skeptical of circuses over the years because of concerns about the animals, also found it to be very entertaining and found that the animals are made to perform less than in the past and their tricks/stunts were simpler and shorter.




Edie and I in the lobby/foyer, just outside of the main arena doors.




Action on the main floor during the pre-circus show. This is when all are invited down on the floor to meet the circus performers, to watch them rehearse, and to see many of the elements of a circus up close. (Sorry about the poor quality.)




The elephants stole the show. Although there were dogs, horses, zebras, and tigers featured in the show, it was the elephants that were the biggest crowd pleaser. Except for a very few tricks, such as sitting on the "stools", shaking their heads to the beat of the music, and making an elephant "pyramid", they wow-ed the audience simply by parading around the perimeter of the circus floor. (Again, I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures.)




As I said, Edie did have a wonderful time. Here she is after the show, pictured with her nephews (Sam in back, Caleb in front) and her sister-law just before we had to say good-bye and leave for home.