The Carnival

Our recent rains have produced some green grass at last. Thank you, God!

I was walking on the path that borders the east edge of Scottsbluff National Monument, just at dusk. It was a beautiful evening for a walk, still hot, but somewhat cooler since the sun had dropped behind the Monument. A soft, southeast breeze kept me comfortable as I moved briskly along the path.

My first glimpse of the carnival, in the distance.

As I headed south, back towards my car, I spotted a light, flashing in the distance. At first, I wasn't sure what I was seeing. The blinking light reminded me of a police car's light bar, but it was the wrong color. As I walked along, I began to notice other lights twinkling on the far side of the alfalfa field--hot pink and green, blue and yellow. Then, it dawned on me: it was the Oregon Trail Days carnival, set up at Red Rocks on the southeastern edge of town.

I haven't been to a carnival in years, not since our kids were quite small. As an adult, I find carnivals to be too crowded and dirty, as well as expensive. However, I always made sure that all of our children got to experience a carnival when they were young, because my early memories of a carnival are truly amazing.

The first carnival I remember was the one at the Knox County Fair in Bloomfield, Nebraska. We spent a lot of time at that fair when we lived on the farm, just outside of town, and even after that, we would drive back from Norfolk and, later, Fairbury, just so we could atttend the fair.

We always toured the barns so we could look at the 4-H and FFA animals. Dad was a 4-H leader when we lived on the farm, so that was very important. And, of course, we had to check out the other exhibits, as well, the produce that our neighbors had grown, and the newest tractors on display. 

We always stopped at the Lutheran ladies' lunch counter for a piece of homemade pie--cherry or peach, or my favorite coconut cream. Sometimes my grandma was the one to serve us our dessert and stop to chat, as long as she wasn't too busy helping other customers.

It was a rare year when we didn't attend the rodeo. We all loved to watch the horses and riders demonstrate their prowess at barrel racing and hogtieing calves, but bull riding and bronco busting were favorites, too. I remember one hot, August afternoon when a rodeo clown strolled by our grandstand seats, leaned over close to Mom, and whispered, "Can you take a joke?" He didn't wait for her to answer before he apparently pulled a brightly colored, oversized bra right out of Mom's shirt. Of course, the whole arena roared with laughter, and Mom proved that she really could take a joke, whether she wanted to, or not.

The most exciting part of the Knox County Fair, though, was the carnival. That was because Dad's friend, who owned the carnival, always gave Dad a whole roll of tickets so we could ride on the Merry-Go-Round and Ferris Wheel, the bumper cars, and all of the little kids' rides, over and over, as many times as we wanted. On a slow, sultry afternoon, Dad and his friend would sit around, just talking, while Mom took us on the rides, and walked us through all of the side show games so we could try each one. When we were a little older, no longer needing Mom to accompany us, she could sit down, too, and watch from a distance as we navigated the carnival attractions all by ourselves. If we attended the carnival in the evening, though, we had to stay close to Mom or Dad, so the afternoon was always our favorite time to take advantage of all those free tickets.

What a treat it would be, now, to have enough free tickets to take my grandchildren to the carnival for an entire weekend. At least, they would think so.

The Oregon Trail Days carnival, across the alfalfa field

For everything that happens in life—there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1