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The Circus People

Circo Imperial

We lived in a village called 24 de Febrero, in Sonora, Mexico.  It was springtime I think.  We had brought down a pick-up camper down and it was set up in our yard.  We used it for an extra bedroom, when we needed one.  It was Petra’s bedroom most of the time we lived there.

One day, a man came by wanting to buy our camper.  He really wanted it, but I did not want to sell it. We always needed to use it, because we had people living with us a lot.  When he left, he said to let him know if I changed my mind, then he handed me some free tickets to the Circus he was in.

We did not go to the Circus, but we went down where they were camped to meet them.  We were welcomed with open arms and invited into one of their trailers to visit. The family that invited us had been in the circus for 3 generations.  They did not really want to do it anymore, especially the wife, but they said they had no where else to go.  The husband had been “blinded by an “accident”.  Now his job was to announce through his loud speaker to all the surrounding villages.  He had a beautiful voice and we heard many of his songs.

We were invited to come to the next village for a meal.  We ended up going and met a lot of the people who worked at the circus.  Circo Imperial had an old circus tent, old trailers and old vehicles.  The women set up camp and some had washing machines.  They “borrowed” the electricity at each village straight from the power line.  I wonder if any of them ever got electrocuted.  They had no outhouses, only the bushes.  They have to move camp to a new location every 5 days, 7 days a week.  I cannot even imagine how hard that must be.  They teach their own children and all of them could read, except one boy we met.  I think he had a learning disability.

One girl I met was about 19.  She had run away from home and joined the circus a few years before.  She had a boyfriend in the circus and hoped they would marry someday.

The circus consisted of 1 pony, 1 monkey and I think they had an anteater. They had dancing and did some tricks.

They kept asking why we didn’t go to their show and my husband said because the woman didn’t have clothing on in the dancing.  He meant not very much.  So, one lady said, oh we have clothes on, let me show you pictures.  She showed us the pictures and they had clothes, but not very much.  We had a lot of boys and didn’t want to put them in front of that.

Even though we didn’t go to their show, we became friends and for 2 or 3 other years they would stop by and see us when they came to our village. One time, Petra (our daughter) had all the circus children come to our house and she made play dough with them.  She really has a heart for children.  Another time, one family showed up and stayed for a couple of hours and played his guitar and sang gospel songs.

Since, we have moved to a village farther away from the freeway, so we have not seen them as much.   We would watch the villages by the freeway for “Circo Imperial” each time we drove either North or South, but haven’t seen them.  I wonder if their circus finally shut down.

I used to know many of their names, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen them I feel bad I can’t remember  anymore.

I painted a picture of one of their trailers and table outside.  I think it’s in Mexico in a box somewhere.

The creative "pill"

I need to take a creative pill

So I can write

Something

….interesting…

I am tired of writing about ME.

I’m really not funny

I’m sort of meloncholic

I’m too serious

My husband thinks I’m a hypochondriac

Sometimes I’m called

“Adriana”

after “Monk”

or OCD.  But I’m not OCD.

I think I can be about anything I read about —-

Here—- I’m talking about

ME

——again——-

No matter.

I like my kids

They are all great.  All 9.

They’re all different

2 daughter-in-laws.

They’re great too.

1 grandbaby.

He’s darling.

He reminds me of his dad at that age.

So happy, active and alive.

I miss my older children.  I am happy for them all.

They are all living for Jesus.

I appreciate my husband- but I need to show it more.

I miss Mexico and the warm weather.

I miss our cat Nermol and the other cat, Garfield.

I miss our house in Mexico, the laundry station, the algadon tree, the clothesline.

I miss watching Clemy play in her pretend kitchen under the other algadon tree.

I miss the cat knocking on our door at night, staring at me, cause he wants out.

I miss the little store down the dirt road.

I miss seeing Flora walking barefoot and picking up a stick, or a flower off a bush as she walks by.  I pray she will be free someday.

I miss Lupe’ and Lupita coming over to say hi.

I miss visiting Rosy and Alfonzo’s pizza.

I miss Carmen.

I miss driving Petra to Los Mochis, to take her back to the deaf school.

I miss driving the VW bus.

But I know there’s a reason we’re in the USA this year.

To send wheat to feed some friends we have never met—

Letting people know the plight of the very, very poor.

Helping support some very special missionaries in Asia.

I’m glad we are where we are—-It’s good to see old friends again.

I have seen some answered prayers for this cowboy town.

Hopefully more prayers will be answered here.

So, where do I get the “creative pill”?

There isn’t one, but I guess I’ll keep writing anyway——-

Busy week

This week started out with me cleaning a house for an elderly woman.  On Tue. I went to a really neat womens’ prayer group.  We saw a video from a conference.  The speaker was Sheila Walsh.  She had a cool  Irish accent and a really touching message. I also started a part time job cleaning offices in the evening.

I am trying to re-memorize Psalm 91.  I memorized it several years ago, but keep forgetting the second half.  So, every day, I write it out, then correct my mistakes.  I finally am down to 3 mistakes, and those are punctuation.  I think now, I am going to work on Ephesians 6.

Today is Saturday.  I finished the baby book for Demetrius.  It has photos of our family, and I used clear contact paper to protect the pages, so he can have his very own book to look at.

It’s cold here, and I am missing Mexico and Tucson a lot these days.  Instead of a long hot summer to endure, it is a long cold winter.  Then I will welcome the short hot summer when it comes.

That’s all for now

Why am I starting a blog??

Why am I starting a blog?

Well, I’m not sure really.  I write in my journal almost everyday.  But, I tend to get in a rut, writing the same ole thing.  I use my journal more for helping me remember things than for creative writing.  So, maybe this will help me get onto something new.

It’s really hard to be an open book, and that’s what this feels like. I guess it all depends on what I write, and what I am trying to say.

For those of you who do not know me well, I am a wife and mother of 9 children.  5 are now living out of the home.  Two are married.  T and R and baby D live in Asia now.  T is teaching English there.  David and Zyanya live in San Antonio, Texas.

We usually go to Mexico from October- May.  This year we did not make it back.  A lot of changes have happened.  We still want to go back and Lord willing will next fall.  It is possible either I or Greg will take a short trip there, either for a mission trip, or to bring a vehicle back and get some things taken care of at our house.

We are buying a little fixer-upper house in Pendleton where I was born.  If you want to know more details why we are buying a house instead of living in Mexico, you can ask me personally, by e-mail or through this blog.  It’s somewhat complicated.

When we all first left Mexico last May, we landed in Tucson and stayed at a friends property for about 3 months.  After that we drove to Oregon. It was quite a shock going from 110 Degree weather to 60 in a few days.  When we pulled in to Bandon, the thermometer said 62.  It felt more like 20.

For the summer, we did various things and stayed with various people.  We stayed in our motor home for a couple of months on a friends property. It’s nice to have good friends.

Now we are in our own little house in Pendleton.

We had beautiful cold snow for about a week.  Petra said, “It better snow when I come to visit”.   She did not want to endure the cold without snow.  Coming from Mexico at this time of year is not easy.  (It’s still in the 70’s there).

Petra, Judah and Gordon came to visit for about a week.  It was so good to see them.  I was able to spend special time with each one.  I will miss everyone, but glad they are all doing well in their lives.

After Greg took  Levi and the 3 older children to the Valley, it felt a little lonely here.  We actually celebrated Christmas this year, so I think it accentuated the lonely feeling.  Greg and Levi will be back in a few days.

Today I finish painting the “Kitchen”, which is really 2 small rooms.  This house has a funny floor plan, but I like it.

Talk to you later!  Marianne