Love Circus Imagery, Hate the Circus

Part of my Rement Circus Set

Why do I love the imagery of the circus but not the actual circus?

When I went to see Ringling Bros. as a kid, I remember it made me really sad to see all the animals having to live and work as traveling performers. I suppose I felt bad for the people, too, but as with movies (dying animals on film are always worse for me than dying people, let's not analyze that too much), the animals got to me more.

And don't even get me started on clowns. Like many other children whose parents weren't paying attention as they watched HBO in the other room, clowns were ruined for me by "Poltergeist." I used to build a wall of stuffed animals on each side of my twin bed to protect me from the evil clown beneath.

But strangely I have become über enamored with the visuals of the circus. Even clowns.

Here's a few pics I've taken when out and about.

I LOVE the little clown in the bottom left with the harlequin pattern!

To be continued...