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The Carnival

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon here in southwest Florida, although still a bit too warm for my November tastes. I'm learning to enjoy my weekends with as much unstructured and unscheduled time as possible.

Last Saturday was a delightful unstructured day. A new friend of mine (the one from the Everglades excursion) and I went to a local carnival. Now, here's the thing...I LOVE carnivals. The food. The people. The rides. The lights. I can easily spend an entire day wandering through the crowds.

He's no carnival slouch. The first thing we did was walk through the entire place, scoping out the rides. Then the fun began. We rode almost every ride there (except for the kiddie attractions and the broken Tornado). The Wild Claw. The Scrambler. The Orbiter. The Space Oddysey. The Swings. The Pharaoh's Fury. The Ferris Wheel. The Giant Slide. The Haunted House. The Avalanche. It was all good. How can you top a ride that uses centrifugal force to plaster your body against someone else?

We also heard some great music from a Guns N Roses cover band and the Florida band, Molly Hatchett. Of course, the highlight of the day was my quick brush-off and mad dash for the fence line where I generously shared with everyone the contents of my stomach (Coca-Cola!). When I turned around, my friend was there laughing and holding a fresh bottle of water.

Him: You just puked at the carnival!
Me: Yeah, and it was awesome.
{giggling ensued}
Him: Yeah, it was.

One of my favorite moments of the day was standing in line at the funnel cake station. The sun was down, the air was crisp and lit with flashing colored lights, and the people were out in droves. My companion looked at me and said, "I've forgotten what it's like to be around real people. I like it." That about summed it all up for me. There's an interesting life force to me that flows through crowds of people--real people. It really doesn't get any more real than a carnival.

I'm thoroughly enjoying these recent experiences of being alive and doing what makes me happy. It's even better when I find someone willing to share those experiences with me. What a joy the last two weeks have been!

Comments

Christy said…
I'm glad to hear it :)
7:07 PM
Rebecca Jeffries-Hyman said…
A, I'm so glad for you!!! It's nice to have somebody who'll laugh with you when you puke at just the right time.
10:05 AM
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