Circuses

Daily Post Prompt: Circus

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

NO CLOWNS ALLOWEDI detest circuses!!!!!   Maybe I should add a dozen more exclamation points, because I don’t think the five used make the point effectively. Have I been to circuses?  Yes, but mainly because my family and boyfriend wanted to go. I’ve been to amateur party-entertainment circuses, I’ve been to moderate-sized professional circuses, and I’ve been to what is supposed to be the epitome of the circus world: the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey circus.

All of them are dirty, stinky, deplorable, detestable, and detrimental to my peace of mind. The acts presented are ridiculous — some of them even asinine — and the only thing in the “so-called entertainment world” that is more asinine is boxing. (I mean, come on: grown men spending their lives learning how to beat up other human beings, practicing until they are good at beating up other human beings, and then making their living for decades by beating up other human beings.  Sheeeeesh!)

And what about clowns???? I hate clowns.  They are one of the worst parts of the circus. I have never, in all my 60-plus years, been able to figure out why grown men and women actually want to put on abominably grotesque make up and clothes and go out in public for the purpose of acting like they are mentally deranged. And even in the Christian arena, I find clowning detestable. I have friends who think that if they dress up in some abominable clown costume, it will somehow help them spread the love of Jesus Christ to people.  For the life of me, I cannot understand that thinking!!! In fact, many children are actually afraid of clowns.  That fact should tell us something ……….

My detest of circuses has nothing to do with the animals, however. I love animals — wild and tame — but I don’t like the way they are treated or used at a circus, and I’d much rather see them in a responsible zoo where they can at least live with some measure of dignity in something close to their natural lifestyle. Of course, I’m sure there are some zoos that don’t treat animals well, but all the ones I’ve visited have been places where the animals are well cared for and presented in a habitat as close to what nature intended as possible.

I like visiting zoos, but will I ever go to a circus again?  Never.  I repeat: Never. In fact, I haven’t been to one since I was 21 years old — thank God.

So —– there you have it folks. My two-cents worth on the subject suggested by the Daily Post Prompt today. My apologies to anyone who performs in a circus if I hurt your feelings, but if you feel the circus is a worthwhile entity, then today’s prompt is your opportunity to sing its praises and share your side of the story.

 

 

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Share Your World – Week 35

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

GLOBE - PIECE OF THE WORLD w. text.
When I was a child, I bought a little banner at a community fair that said, “Slow But Sure.”  So, okay, I’m sometimes slow about getting around to stuff — like the “Share Your World” project that Cee hosts every week. I see a lot of my blogging friends responding, but I just never got around to getting started. You know what I mean?  Well, maybe you don’t because maybe you don’t procrastinate the way I do.

Anyway, I decided it’s time I at least jumped in and tried to get involved. In this project, Cee Neuner post an article every week in which she asks bloggers four questions about themselves or their lives. That helps all their readers get to know them better. If you’d like to take part just follow this link or the one connected to Cee’s name above, and you’ll find all the details.

Now, for question # 1:  Have your blogging goals changed?

No, I started blogging for three reasons — which is why I have more than one blog. My ministry blogs are there for the purpose of helping people get to know the Lord Jesus Christ and His love for them, and those goals are still the same.

My patriotic blog was born out of my desire — or maybe my need — to vent on a number of issues that are important to my country and its future.

And my author’s blog (the one you are on now) is my attempt to connect with other like-minded people from all over the world and share our love of writing and our desire to touch people with the deepest things from our hearts as we express them in those tiny little black marks on paper.

So my goals are exactly the same as they were in the beginning, and the nicest thing about all of it is that I am reaching those goals in a very satisfactory way.

Question # 2:  If you were to perform in a circus, what would you do?

That’s easy: NOTHING. I absolutely hate circuses, so I wouldn’t be caught anywhere near one.

Question # 3:  If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18, what advice would you give yourself? Or if you are younger than 25, what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 45?

The advice I’d give is to tell myself (or anyone else) that you can make it on your own, with the Lord’s help. It’s terrific to have good friends and family. And life can be sad when we don’t have those blessings. But it’s important for all of us to believe — to know — that we are not dependent on another person to make us valuable or to help us make something beautiful of our lives.

Question # 4:  What is your favorite comfort snack food?

CHOCOLATE.  Hands down, no questions asked, no mulling it over in order to make a decision.  It’s chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up:

I’m grateful I got through the grueling dental work I had to have done last week and that I am well on my way to being back to normal.

This coming week, I’m looking forward to the new fall term of my writing classes at the junior colleges. This fall I am starting a brand new class on writing poetry.

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