VayCay
It's vacation week for me! I hopped out of bed this morning with that vacation feeling...knowing I have a whole week to do whatever I want...or nothing at all...as the mood strikes.
This morning, I grabbed my camera and headed for my favorite park to see if the Very Photogenic Great Blue Heron was around. I didn't even get a chance to look for him because before I got there, I noticed the Circus Train sitting on the tracks and suddenly, I became 5. With visions of soaring trapeze artists and bike-riding bears bounding through my head, I turned toward the auditorium to find the animals.
Here's a tip for you: "Behind the Scenes" at the circus is not a friendly place to be. I pulled into the almost-empty parking lot and roamed around behind the fenced-off area...between the fence and the trailers...and found the elephants getting their morning bath. But when I asked if I could snap a picture, a man with a striped Rasta beanie and thick Jamaican accent told me, "No. You can not take pictures back here. You are not allowed to take pictures." I was a little bummed. There would've been this great shot of the silhouette of an elephant in a tent, with the sign "Greatest Show On Earth" right behind him in the sunlight. I wanted that picture. But I thought, ok...fine. I'll just watch.
I stood there in the early morning, listening to elephants trumpet and tigers roar...it was unreal. But that didn't last long, either, before another man - with no accent - came out & told me I couldn't stand there. Like I was causing such a problem just standing there watching the elephants enjoy the spray of the water on their backs & the scrubbing of the brushes on their belly. He told me the animals would be on display in about an hour and I could come back then.
So, I left. I went for a short drive, found a Nature Conservancy preserve that I never knew existed in this area, picked up a bit of information about the place and decided I'd come back when it was cooler so I could run the trails. I love finding new trails to run.
On my way home, I swung back by the circus and just as the man said, the animals were on display. But just as I suspected, you had to pay to go in to see them. I believe your circus ticket got you this extra benefit. From outside the fence, I could see the elephants tethered out on the cement watching the people watch them, and the tigers in their cage gnawing on a big bone. Boring. I decided to leave.
But, wait. That part of the fence off to the side is open. I could just step inside for a second, snap a picture, THEN leave. But, wait...this isn't a good angle...maybe if I took a couple more steps in, that post wouldn't be in my way.
Before I knew it, I had gone maybe 10 ft. inside the fence & that's when I heard the yelling. I look over my shoulder and a tall, blond man in a cowboy hat is speed-walking in my direction, waving his arms wildly, and shouting in a language I can only assume was Russian. I was frozen in my tracks. It's the weirdest feeling to have someone talking & talking & talking to you...about something that is - to them - urgent & you don't have the slightest clue what they're saying. I just stared at him like he had just stepped off a spaceship...which made him start in again with another string of undecipherable words accompanied by more arm flailing.
Clearly, he wanted me to leave, and as I slowly backed away, I squinted and shook my head, "I don't know what you're saying to me." He came over to close the fence and squeezed out a few words in English as he waved his arms, "Around front. Around front."
Dang, what pretty blue eyes this guy had. Some things defy the language barrier.
Anyway...I had already been "around front" and I didn't want to go there again, so I started walking the other direction to my car, which made him start yammering again, "Шины будут двигнуть бегунков взад и вперед назад к старту, но новаторские бегунки объенинялись в команду вверх для того чтобы выйти один автомобиль около конца и carpool он, или имеют их клуб болельщиков ободрить их на финишной черте." (I have no idea what that says. Those aren't even real letters, for the love of Webster!) But I felt I owed him an explanation. I walked back toward him, did a little hand-waving of my own, and said, "But you have to have a ticket to the circus to get IN around front. I don't have a ticket to the circus. I don't want to buy a ticket to the circus, I just want to take a couple pictures."
It was now his turn to be frozen in his tracks. He squinted his clear blue eyes at me, and managed to force a few more English words through his thick accent, "No. I don't know. This, I don't know." I smiled. He shook his head, "This....this.....I don't know." I laughed. He smiled, and I left.
I would love to be able to travel, but who has the money? Since I'm not able to get away to experience something new, I love it when a completely foreign, exotic sound and feeling is able to come to me. It's a great way to start a vacation.
This morning, I grabbed my camera and headed for my favorite park to see if the Very Photogenic Great Blue Heron was around. I didn't even get a chance to look for him because before I got there, I noticed the Circus Train sitting on the tracks and suddenly, I became 5. With visions of soaring trapeze artists and bike-riding bears bounding through my head, I turned toward the auditorium to find the animals. Here's a tip for you: "Behind the Scenes" at the circus is not a friendly place to be. I pulled into the almost-empty parking lot and roamed around behind the fenced-off area...between the fence and the trailers...and found the elephants getting their morning bath. But when I asked if I could snap a picture, a man with a striped Rasta beanie and thick Jamaican accent told me, "No. You can not take pictures back here. You are not allowed to take pictures." I was a little bummed. There would've been this great shot of the silhouette of an elephant in a tent, with the sign "Greatest Show On Earth" right behind him in the sunlight. I wanted that picture. But I thought, ok...fine. I'll just watch.
I stood there in the early morning, listening to elephants trumpet and tigers roar...it was unreal. But that didn't last long, either, before another man - with no accent - came out & told me I couldn't stand there. Like I was causing such a problem just standing there watching the elephants enjoy the spray of the water on their backs & the scrubbing of the brushes on their belly. He told me the animals would be on display in about an hour and I could come back then.
So, I left. I went for a short drive, found a Nature Conservancy preserve that I never knew existed in this area, picked up a bit of information about the place and decided I'd come back when it was cooler so I could run the trails. I love finding new trails to run.
On my way home, I swung back by the circus and just as the man said, the animals were on display. But just as I suspected, you had to pay to go in to see them. I believe your circus ticket got you this extra benefit. From outside the fence, I could see the elephants tethered out on the cement watching the people watch them, and the tigers in their cage gnawing on a big bone. Boring. I decided to leave.
But, wait. That part of the fence off to the side is open. I could just step inside for a second, snap a picture, THEN leave. But, wait...this isn't a good angle...maybe if I took a couple more steps in, that post wouldn't be in my way. 
Before I knew it, I had gone maybe 10 ft. inside the fence & that's when I heard the yelling. I look over my shoulder and a tall, blond man in a cowboy hat is speed-walking in my direction, waving his arms wildly, and shouting in a language I can only assume was Russian. I was frozen in my tracks. It's the weirdest feeling to have someone talking & talking & talking to you...about something that is - to them - urgent & you don't have the slightest clue what they're saying. I just stared at him like he had just stepped off a spaceship...which made him start in again with another string of undecipherable words accompanied by more arm flailing. Clearly, he wanted me to leave, and as I slowly backed away, I squinted and shook my head, "I don't know what you're saying to me." He came over to close the fence and squeezed out a few words in English as he waved his arms, "Around front. Around front."
Dang, what pretty blue eyes this guy had. Some things defy the language barrier.
Anyway...I had already been "around front" and I didn't want to go there again, so I started walking the other direction to my car, which made him start yammering again, "Шины будут двигнуть бегунков взад и вперед назад к старту, но новаторские бегунки объенинялись в команду вверх для того чтобы выйти один автомобиль около конца и carpool он, или имеют их клуб болельщиков ободрить их на финишной черте." (I have no idea what that says. Those aren't even real letters, for the love of Webster!) But I felt I owed him an explanation. I walked back toward him, did a little hand-waving of my own, and said, "But you have to have a ticket to the circus to get IN around front. I don't have a ticket to the circus. I don't want to buy a ticket to the circus, I just want to take a couple pictures."
It was now his turn to be frozen in his tracks. He squinted his clear blue eyes at me, and managed to force a few more English words through his thick accent, "No. I don't know. This, I don't know." I smiled. He shook his head, "This....this.....I don't know." I laughed. He smiled, and I left.
I would love to be able to travel, but who has the money? Since I'm not able to get away to experience something new, I love it when a completely foreign, exotic sound and feeling is able to come to me. It's a great way to start a vacation.
Why I like it here
I was hiking the other day when a couple on mountain bikes flew past me in all their regalia; the helmets, the sweat-wicking clothes, the camel-baks. That, in itself, is not at all unusual in this part of the country. Mountain bikes abound. What struck me, though, was that this man and woman were both probably in their late 70's. Made me smile, and I realized that even that isn't all that unusual here. I love that I live in a place where many people stay active and outdoors for as long as humanly possible. It's an inspiration to see people who work to keep their muscles flexible and their joints well-oiled, and continue to get themselves out to play in the mountains whenever possible. A few years ago, my daughter and I hiked a 14er, and at the top, amongst the other hikers who had scrambled to the summit, was a kindly, grey-haired woman who appeared to be in her 80s. Unreal. There was only one way up that mountain, and that was the trail that had me huffing & puffing & wondering Whose idea was this anyway?, and What's the point of going to the top of a mountain, just to turn around and come back down?! The point was to get up there and be inspired by a woman twice my age who, after all her years, still has the gumption to get up before dawn and climb one of the tallest mountains in the lower 48. I love that. I hope someday I'll be the old gray-haired woman pushing past younger hikers as I run along a mountain trail. Only time will tell.
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