It was
something straight out of “Setting Free the Bears,” a novel by my favorite
author, John Irving. A slightly muggy, cool morning, the quiet interspersed
with the sounds of a city waking up. When farther down the avenue the first of
the elephants appear, and the boys faces are the picture of delight; six altogether, they tightly hold the tail of the animal in front with their
trunks. Their trainers and other helpers have them surrounded more to keep the
public at bay than to keep them in line, and we marvel at how quickly the
procession reaches the intersection we chose to await this spectacle. They
lumber past, single file, and then the ponies are passing. Then, as quickly as
they appeared, the animals are gone, only an elephant-smell still lingering,
and the whir of the street cleaner bringing up the rear.
My
youngest celebrated his very first birthday in style yesterday, starting his
day with a trip downtown to watch the circus animals walk from the train
station to the Bi-Lo Center, where the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
Circus is performing through February 3rd. We heard about the circus
walk from a friend, but couldn’t really find anything concrete about the time
or place until the Greenville road closure website listed the exact route. We decided not to take our chances of missing
anything, and arrived close to 9am allowing ample time to find parking and stake
out a spot, which proved to be unnecessary as it took a while for their train
to unload and for them to make their way to downtown. Still, we were glad to
have made the trip, as elephants in downtown Greenville are not something we
see every day!
As for
the birthday boy, what can I say? It was the third day of celebrating because
of the parade of guests we’ve had, and just as with any good party there was cake,
kliņģeris and presents. I’m so very
proud of my one-year-old. He’s walking, chattering away, climbing, moving,
shaking, eating and keeping both his father and me very much on our toes. His
hair takes on an auburn hue in the sun, his hands and feet are only ¼ inch
shorter than his brother’s, and his 18-24 month old clothes sometimes seem a
little on the short side. He loves playing with the refrigerator’s water
dispenser, the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. And he smiles, all the
time. That smile is enough, most of the time. And for those times when it isn’t
enough, well, there are always the elephants.
