Carnival

For one weekend each year the lot outside our front door turns into a carnival. Literally. Our condo faces the lawn of the Catholic church next door, and once a year they host a festival, complete with a Ferris wheel, rides, carnival food, noise and lights. Even with the doors and windows closed we can hear the whirrr of the machinery, the boom of the announcer's voice, and the screams of kids as they are spun and flung for fun. While at first it seems like an exciting diversion, it all gets old after the first nights.

View from our front door.

The carnival is always President's Weekend, which is usually also Michael's birthday weekend. I must admit, we've never been to the carnival except for a couple walk-thrus in years past. It is neat to see families out together enjoying the fun. I don't feel like we see that very often in South Florida. The first year we lived here we walked over to see everything. It reminded me of the Beauregard parish fair my sisters and I were so excited to attend each year growing up in Louisiana -- but on a smaller scale. Fair days were so thrilling to me, and I couldn't wait to ride the double Ferris wheel, The Radar, and the Rock 'N Roll. (I never worked up the nerve to to on The Zipper.) Oh, those were the days. I can assume that those rides, though larger, seemed just as much like death-traps when seen through adult eyes as the rides we have next door.

I was shocked surprised to find among the booths, rides and silent auction there was gambling! At church! Michael, who grew up Catholic and is familiar with these annual festivals, found nothing out of the ordinary with it. I had never heard of Catholic carnivals, and now I notice them at other Catholic churches in the area. (There's usually one my birthday weekend, too, at the church just north of here.)

The other night Michael took Adam for a walk, and on the way back home they walked through the "midway." Adam was enraptured! He pulled himself up on his little tray so he could lean forward and see more. The lights, the music, the sounds -- he loved it.  Who knows, maybe next year he'll be begging us to go visit the carnival again. Or maybe next year we'll just be introducing him to Funnel Cake instead. I'm not sure this Momma is ready to trust her baby on giant machines that fold up small enough to fit on a flatbed truck. I mean, how safe could that be??!