Belle, WV

Our show is in Charleston WV and the train is parked in Belle this week. I am very happy the train is in the yard in two cuts, that means all of my friends on the high end of the train are much closer this week. Our run was just this side of perfect, great driver so we had a smooth run.  We spent much of the run out on the vestibule and Eric turned off the lights so that we all got a good view of the stars.  It is always interesting to spend time with the people from train crew they tell you things about the train that you might not otherwise know.   Last night Eric told me why our wheels squeak so much on the tracks, our cars are 90' long and the tracks are designed for coal cars.  Coal cars are only 60' long so when we go around curves our wheels squeal.  We will be here the next 6 days then off to Dayton OH.  Only 4 more weeks until I go home for a few days.

Easter

Today was more fun than a person should have at work, holidays are all about the kids.  Their parents are working so we do what we can to make the day special.  We had an Easter egg hunt and the Easter Bunny showed up on an elephant.  One of our clowns dressed in a bunny suit and rode out on Asia for photos with all of the kids.  Jackie and I colored eggs our kids and just had fun.  I love my job!!! I don't think I will ever teach in public schools again.

free time

We spend much of our time working, I am normally at the building 12 to 13 hours each show day.  Performers try to find ways to relax in between shows.  Many weekend days are 3 show days,and the performers get about 30 minutes between each show, so finding a way to recharge is often a challenge.  Today I spotted one of my friends reading a book in the fork of a tree and snapped a photo. I also want to share a photo here of the entire alley, two of the clowns are missing they were out injured, but it is a great photo.Just another day at work, and as P.T. Barnum was convinced of and stated unequivocally “Clowns and elephants are the pegs upon which the circus is hung”

Goodbye Baltimore

We have a very short train run this morning, Baltimore to DC. Although, it is only about 30 miles it will be about 6 hours until the train is spotted and we are able to get off.  When we arrive at any new train yard we start by unhooking the flats and animal cars from the coaches. This requires a lot of switching tracks and it can be time consuming.  Some train yards we put the coaches out in two or three cuts when that happens it adds time to our travels or should I say waiting? When the train is split in a train yard I really like it, my best friends on the show are in cars 50, 51 and 56, I am in 35 so it is a long walk when the coaches are in a single cut.  When we are split 50/51 are right next to me and 56 is a close walk. Our switching is complete and we are about to start rolling, which means I will lose internet connection and cell service.  I will try to update this page a little more often now that I have help at work.

market runs

We all tend to work long hours and it is often difficult to get to a store to buy anything.  If we are lucky enough to be in a city with shopping near the arena, we simply shop between shows.  If not we need to depend on the bus to transport us before or after shows. Recently I have started to wonder what the employees of these stores think when we pull up at midnight and 50 people spill into the store. We generally have only an hour to shop, pay for the items we are purchasing and get back to the bus.  Often the people working in the store look completely shell shocked and other customers become annoyed by the long lines we create.

Life

I was thinking about how different my life is here on the train.  Having a home that moves from place to place and the fact that all 300 neighbors move each time I move.  We have a dynamic that is very much like  a large family or a very small town.  Everyone knows everyone else's business, your life becomes public knowledge.  Because of this I have chosen surround myself with all of the G rated people. On the train runs we play board games, have potluck dinners and just laugh and entertain each other.  Sometimes though we need to get into some mischief just to stir things up. 

One of our clowns is a little too serious, so he is a great target.  We cooked up a plan to kidnap one of his door magnets.  We carefully constructed a ransom note by cutting up food packages and then we took his Jack magnet and left the ransom note held up by a new Santa magnet, and waited. He left a lost poster on his door with a drawing of Jack asking for his safe return but refused to meet our ransom demand.  We didn't hear anything else and I just about to return the magnet when one of the other clowns told me that she had accused of taking Jack.  When we heard that we decided that the magnet needed to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and we started taking photos of him during our travels and leaving photos with notes on the clown's door.  We decided in Washington D.C. to return Jack to his rightful owner, I guess it is time to find some new mischief.

Baltimore

We arrived in Baltimore on Monday, Tuesday was a dark day so a few of us decided to go explore.  We thought that our first stop would be Charm City Cupcakes, but after walking through some very scary neighborhoods and not finding the cupcake shop we decided to head down to the water.  This part of the day was very enjoyable we shopped, saw some things to do on Monday and had a wonderful lunch. We decided that Monday's outing will not include any of the ships that we can tour but The American Visionary Art Museum to see some kinetic art and possibly dragon paddle boats.

Washington DC

We spent all of last week in Washington DC, Jackie (the other teacher) and I got out to see some of the sights. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and quite beautiful.  Much of the national mall is undergoing restoration, so it is not as visitor friendly as my last visit. Thing are going great at work, all of the kids are trying to get caught up with their studies and with Jackie here they have plenty of help. 

New teacher

Sorry that it has been so long since I have last posted, so many things have happened I am not sure where to start. First Jackie arrived and it has taken so much pressure off to have another teacher here.  We have added time to our workday but it has allowed us to offer individual attention to our students and it will be good for everyone.  She is smart, friendly, a hard worker and very easy to get along with,  I am happy that she is here. We spent last week in Charleston, SC and this week is Cincinnati, I always like when we are near the water, I find water very relaxing.  Our train run was not easy this time we arrived over 12 hours late and as a result our GM canceled school today.  We are taking this opportunity to get caught up on some administrative duties.  We are also going to walk over to the Underground Railroad Museum, we may take the kids there this week. I need to get going, I will try to post more often. 

Pie Car stories

I was in the pie car grabbing a bite to eat and that some of the people who have been around a while were telling stories  Although, many of the stories were interesting this one stuck out in my mind.  It seems that back in the 80's the city of Sarasota decided that they wanted an image change.  Part of that change included trying to get the circus to leave the area and take their clown college with them.  The management at Ringlings thought that it would be a good idea to show Sarasota what a positive influence they were on Sarasoto's economy.  They began paying all employees in cash, ($2.00 bills).  As the $2.00 bills began to flood the market places in and around Sarasota, the city changed its tune.  They no longer wanted the circus to leave and even took steps to persuade them to never leave.

I thought of this story while I was on the market run this evening. Our bus filled with people arrived at Walmart at 11:30. We all shopped and were gone within an hour.  Bags and bags of product left the store and I am certain that our people left behind thousands of dollars.  I am not sure that the cities we visit ever think of the amount of money we bring to their economies.

Travels

It has been a while since I last posted, sorry about that.  I have been to Nashville, TN, Charlotte, NC and I am now in Raleigh, NC.  I have been the only teacher since I arrived over a month ago, my assistant should be arriving on Friday.  I am happy that she will be here soon, I need the help.  I am getting very settled here I love the train and all of the interesting people I travel with, many are multi-generational circus performers and it is expected that they will spend their lives with the show.  Some like me decided that they wanted something different and joined the show.  Others have just been interested in the circus their entire lives and could not wait to run off and become part of the magic.  I have been finding little reminders of home everywhere I travel, Nashville has a Saint Cloud Corner.  Places I go remind me of different friends and family members, I miss you but I will be home in May, then winter quarters starting Nov 11th.

New room

I have completed my move into my new room just in time for the next train run, I climbed into my bed and it is much more comfortable than the last bed.  It is long enough for me so I do not have to put my feet up into the window and since it is a solid mattress no annoying seems where the seat cushions come together. Having a bath and a shower in my room are also a huge bonus. I can't figure out how to rotate the photo of the shower, so that photo is a little odd.  As you can see I now have a lot more space. Life is good.

Ringling train

On my way to work today several people were discussing the train, I always find it fascinating when people begin talking about the train.  Many people here are train enthusiasts they can tell you anything that you would want to know from the type of engine used to pull the train, to where and when each car was manufactured.  Many of them collect N scale Ringling's Brothers trains and cars.  One of the resident brainiacs on the train took the time to figure out that if you accurately represented our train using N scale it would be 16' long.  When we travel the train is a mile long, when we park we separate the animal and flat cars from the dormitory cars, so it is much shorter when parked.  During this conversation it was also mentioned that on Tuesday both trains were in Jacksonville at the same time. It would have been so cool to get a picture of the Red and Blue tour trains in the same train yard.

Colubia SC

We arrived in Columbia yesterday at about 1:00 pm, much to my dismay I found out that my aircard will not work here.  I am at the school and their verizon card works just fine. My class room here is in a VIP box so it is very comfortable and I have a perfect view of the arena, I may get to see the show.  I have watched many of the acts using the arena floor for practice and my first student will be here at 1:00 pm today. Our journey here was interesting the train engine derailed before it got hitched to our train so our departure from Miami was delayed 6 hours.  We arrived in Columbia 5 hours later than expected so everything is running a little behind today.  I had another student added so now my student count is up to 14, I sure hope I get some help soon. Each day gets a little easier and soon I will know what I am doing.  I miss all of you and hope to see you soon.

Off to Columbia, SC

We are preparing to head out to SC.  I am told that we will leave Miami about 5:00 am, the Animals and most of the humans are on the train.  I have everything secured in my room and I am so excited I am having a difficult time settling down enough to go to sleep.  After the last show tonight, I watched them load the elephants into trainers to transport to the train.  I was told by one of the truck drivers that the tigers are transported by truck, so we just have horses and elephants on the the train.  It is amazing how organized this move is, there is so much equipment that needs to be loaded. The last show ended at 8:45 pm and we will have everything on the train by morning.

Saturday Jan 14

Word has gotten out that the show has hired a teacher and many parents want to get their children into school.  I had two parents approach me about sending their child to school. It looks like I will soon be adding more students, I hope I am up for the task.  I teach the little kids separately but I have a hard time with  the little ones, they need so much attention. I also hear rumors that another teacher will be added soon, I hope that they like teaching primary grades.

Day 8

I spoke to Grant earlier this evening and he told me that I have been remiss in posting.  I have to agree with him I have been offline for several days and I need to get everyone caught up.  The train has everything I need, I have a room, although small it is very comfortable.  The room that I am in is only temporary, I will be moving into a double state room with a private bath sometime soon.  My current room is referred to as a coffin, it just gives you enough  room to lay down and a small path between my sink, refrigerator and bed.  My of my friends had to point out to me that my bed at home was bigger than my entire living space on the train.  I have met some very interesting people since arriving.  We have people from every level of education and 18 different countries, anyone you can imagine is on the train. As I was walking my students out today we had to stop because the elephants were in our way and I began to think about my first week.  It has been very difficult at times but very exciting.  Clowns who pie you on your birthday, elephants, tigers, odd people and children who juggle on their breaks at school.  Parents who bring me lunch daily and people who watch out for me. Who would have ever thought I would end up in such an interesting place.

Getting settled in my new classroom

I have worked with my new students for two days and I am starting to get used to their curriculum.  They are very smart and funny, but a few of them are very far behind.  They have had a difficult time keeping teachers and the the students have gone long stretches without anyone to teach them.  I am trying to adapt to a very different schedule, I had students from 1:00 until 8:00 today, and my schedule changes depending on when we have shows.  I work when the parents work.  It is a very interesting concept that school adapts to the families' schedule, rather than the family adapting to the school's schedule. I will work again tomorrow and then have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off.  Next week I work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, then we strike and head to Columbia, SC.  I think it is time to call it a night, I will be in touch.

My new home

I arrived yesterday and found out that there is not a WIFI connection on the train so I am sitting at a starbucks on bayshore in Miami.  I have met several new people and most are very nice.  I am told that history shows that teachers do not last long so most people don't bother to talk to them at first.  This prevents developing a person attachment to someone who leaves.  My battery is almost gone so I will make this quick the room is very small, but I have a sink, refridgerator and microwave so I will be fine.  I will write more later.

My newest adventure

Today I returned to work at PM Wells and with mixed emotions resigned from my current teaching position.  I must thank Ms. Flewellyn for helping me transition into middle school, your kindness will never be forgotten.  I will miss all of my students and co-workers, but I know that I will grow to love my future students and co-workers.

Tomorrow will be my last day at PM Wells and Thursday will be my first day working for Feld Entertainment.  Here is a link to my tour schedule, http://www.ringling.com/TourSchedule.aspx?action=showschedule&show=rd_141&parentID=1226&assetFolderID=1238. I would welcome suggestions for places to visit in any of the cities I am working in and I promise to post photos.  Thanks to all of my friends and family, I could not do this without you. I love you all and I promise to stay in touch.