10- WORKING AT CIRCUSES and CARNIVALS In HIGH SCHOOL!!....

A) When they would come to my Shenandoah Valley town, a temp job was in store for moi!
B) My grandfather, Carl, my father, Melvin, and all of my Steffey uncles were huge fans of circuses, always visiting each one that came to my town in the Shenandoah Valley! My father, in his 'shop', designed and made miniature circus wagons when I was little.
C) My goal, as a kid, was to one day see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus under the bigtop!...and get a temp job putting it up! And when the impossible did happen, that circus coming to our small town, guess who was there at the crack of dawn?
D) That VERY EARLY Saturday morning three of us chums rode our bikes waaay out in the country to meet the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus by train. The country sidetracks of the C&O was the only spot for many miles to unload onto trucks and then on nearby to a large open farmer's field. We saw the lions, tigers, elephants cars being unloaded into cages. The work elephants did most of the heavy unloading, methodically and under the guidance of their trainers.
This young freshman high schooler, back then, never once thought of whether the animals were treated with respect and dignity. Today, I do think back over those kind of thoughts. During those early years of being thrilled about circuses, I observed a handful of traveling circuses and often slipped around "back" to watch. Now, I do remember "seeing" much more than just unloading an animal or an animal trainer "making" an animal perform a trick before "adoring" circus fans. More about those NOW feelings for another commentary!
E) We all three did get circus jobs. "WOW"...I uttered that exlamation over and over moving around and inside the upraised BIG Top. My jo was to help raise the side show tent nearby. That side show boss, around noon, brought us a genuine circus hot dog with "everything!" for lunch. And I, later, was given two (2) official tickets for the circus show later that early evening. Of course, my girlfriend at the time was invited. Since I had no driving license at the time, her father took us waaaay out in the country to the circus!
F) And what an ADVENTURE the entire looooong day was.... That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!
G) And those CARNIVAL sideshows...this boy soon learned the reality of the "carny life" by heading out to each on an early morning. They were called 'roustabouts.' Once, a gaggle of us boys opened a large carnival truck that had been sitting on the town fairgrounds. We began to pull out rolled-up tents and poles. From the middle of a sideshow tent? Out rolled a 'carny'...alive.
The neatest part of a carnival was the sideshow, with large paintings on canvas signs advertising the acts. I got to go inside, that evening, and see the performers...often polluted.

H) AND WHY DO I HAVE A BIT of SADNESS, though? At that age, had not discovered the wonderful world of cameras, especially since they weren't sophisticated! DID NOT take any pics of this momenteous period of my adventurous life...NONE! However, had, by then, developed that great "memory bank" system of storing visual details and senses. Can "bring up" detailed memories right away for "seeing" experiences and adventures in order to write about them....

9- CLIMBING an OLD WATER TOWER......

A) The same chums who took a ride on that freight train also looked up, one day, nearby, at that TALL, OLD abandoned water tower and, yes, decided to climb it and touch the 'ball' at its zenth ......
B) This adventure, by the way, required a major ponderable. Was my turn, that morning, to go, uh, first. So, I slowly began the ascent up the narrow metal ladder on the outside of the tank. At times, would pause and look UP, without spying that 'ball' on the very tiptop, hidden around the larger storage water tank.
C) The other chums were on the ground urging me on up further. They were going to come up behind me. About halfway up the very tall and sorta terrifying ascent, this boy decided to stop and begin, backwards, coming back down. One of the other chums then went up...and, after a time, came back down. We all three never said a word then or afterwards, ever.

8- The MISSISSIPPI RIVER...VILLAGE of HANNIBAL...And THAT CAVE Of BECKY'S!!....

A) Another of my ADVENTURES was traveling across America to study at Montana State U. in Bozeman, Montana! Instead of flying, like the others did, I drove, for the very first time! And honestly rediscovered, down on the ground, my America. This native Virginian is even mo' of a patriotic kinda person, now, as a result of that trip!!!
B) Saw the Mississippi at St. Louis for the first time! And paused a bit to explore that Gateway Arch along the banks. By the way, what IS the official title for this Arch?................Jefferson Naional Expansion Memorial!
C) Then drove north along the river, going through the real country (love small country towns) to Hannibal! First thing I did was to get out of the car and wade into the semi-muddy Mississippi River, sans sandals, before exploring the quaintm historic small town. Yes, commercialization had moved in with real places. Remember, also, that the Samuel Clements award-winning fictional characters and places were just that...fiction.
D) ....more.....