Greetings campers
A photo I wish I had taken - Ken Toda standing under the fans in the livestock barn, trying to cool off between photo sessions. Don't know how he was able to stand it out there all day in his portable "studio", in the blazing sun. (See Gabriel's photos, row 8, #6). Gotta have that diffused natural light. There's a man who suffered for his art.
Great fun reading other posts and seeing all the pics. Good way to deal with the withdrawal symptoms, and burn some of the major and minor events into my memory. Anything to slow the rate of return to real life as much as possible. Just another reminder that so much is going on around us, there's no way to see it all, hear it all, do it all. And the off-list post-Cirque conversations, discussions, and swaps will continue for another couple weeks, and soften the impact.
Some pleasant flashbacks reminded me of a later incident that sort of summed up the whole event. Just wandering through the books in the Air & Space Museum gift shop after communing with a few of my other favorite things. Noticed a very professionally attired adult employee walking with an assembled model plane in each hand, items headed towards some distant shelf for display. Away in his own little world for the moment with a great "kid in a candy store" smile on his face. And while I didn't hear him actually making airplane engine noises out loud, I have no doubt he was hearing them in his head. When he got close to me he snapped back to reality enough to notice that I was watching, and was enjoying watching him enjoy himself. I suspect that he saw some lingering Cirque smile on my face, so obviously not just another cranky customer for him to deal with, (Little did he know that if my co-workers or neighbors saw a smile on my face without a bike in hand they would think something was very wrong, and their reflex would possibly be some act of concern, but more likely some act of self preservation. But I digress....) and we both laughed at being caught in the act of being ourselves, and not always acting like "grownups". He said "It really is that much fun", as they flew past to a couple perfect 3-point landings somewhere across the store.
And that sums up the Cirque. (Nobody to play with in the air museum so it's not nearly the same experience.for me.). I suppose the novelty can wear off for people who are up to their earholes in this stuff every day. Still an "event" for some of us peons outside the business, living in the middle of nowhere. No time before the Cirque for my usual mental and physical training program to get into condition for sustained sociability, so it was all quite a shock to the system. My sprained face still hurts from talking, smiling, and laughing far more than my normal allowable daily dose. Recovery time is a real bitch. Please, don't make me laugh for a couple days.
It really is that much fun. Larry "stall, spin, crash and burn" Osborn Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, USA