Damn Everything But the Circus

Last night the kids and I hit the Shriners' circus at the Fargodome. The kids bore free (!) tickets from a local bank. Only the cotton candy, icy treats, candied almonds, programs (x3) and my ticket cost us anything. (hmmm...)

I knew the evening was going to be a success when Ellie turned to me about five minutes in – when nothing particularly spectacular was happening in any of the three rings – with her face agog and exclaimed, "I cannot believe my eyes!"

We enjoyed ourselves. Was it Ringling Brothers? No. It was definitely circus on a smaller scale. But seeing such a thing as an adult lets you sit back and soak in the time-honored elements any decent (non-Soleil) circus will have within three rings: trapezes, big-cat tamers, clowns, ringmaster, elephants. In some ways, it's a limited – but entertaining – palette circus producers are painting from.

When we headed out to the concourse at intermission in search of restrooms and snacks, we were spied by a courthouse colleague of mine, G., who was, quite conveniently, selling cotton candy on behalf of one of her children's activities (the band?). It was typical of our outings in Fargo. We hardly ever wade into a crowd of people these days without knowing someone.

Shriners have had a bit of a hard week. A big story on Monday in The New York Times detailed how some local chapters can get a little careless with the money they designate for their children's hospitals versus what they spend to stock the bars at their temples. So it was with some interest that I noted the tickets and the program had plastered all over them: "Proceeds benefit Shrine Temple Operations Only."

A tune was going through my head most of the evening: "Damn Everything but the Circus," by The Story. It's a beautiful, haunting song about a young girl who joins up with an outfit I'd always imagined looked like the Shriner show does:

So step right up
to the small town big top
One way out
of a small town’s
the big top

Turns out it was also, first, a pretty good e.e. cummings poem:

Damn everything but the circus!

...damn everything that is grim, dull,
motionless, unrisking, inward turning,
damn everything that won't get into the
circle, that won't enjoy, that won't throw
its heart into the tension, surprise, fear
and delight of the circus, the round
world, the full existence...