Sunay Pause: Will Summer Be Another Bummer?

 I like the way they have of filling up the ring.

When will it ever end? And when it is said to, how long to get people under the tents? All the viral spin-offs out there keep me on edge.

Circus being a big thing still for little tots new to life and too young to spin conspiracy theories or cry social injustice to media whores, I'd guess, barring the teachers unions banning big tops, too, that the kids should be good to go by June. Biggest reason: the critical kiddy demographic had been thoroughly immune to corona's touch. I am deferring  to SCIENCE.

Of course, the parents might not be so okay with it. Which poses a conundrum (my first time using that word, and maybe the last). 

If I had kids, I would want to go, but inside a warm stuffy tent?  Outdoors surely is the better, safer option, requiring only the raising of the sidewalls. In the wake of the horrific Hartford circus fire of 1944, Ringling returned to the road under the open sky and the crowds came  The smaller community shows that already thrive in parks should have an easier time recapturing an audience.

Let me right now check out the Big Apple Circus website to see if I can detect a telling difference over there, one way or the other. Be back in a jiff!

Glumly unchanged, as like an empty storefront awaiting a new tenant:.

Big Apple Circus is not currently performing due to COVID-19 safety and assembly precautions.

Far more promising is the cheer and hope from Smirkus up New England way:

"Last April, when for the first time in Smirkus' history we announced the cancellation of the Big Top Tour, we never thought it could happen twice. However, public health guidelines will still not allow us to travel throughout New England, and even if the world begins to open up this spring, it will not allow us the safe and effective window needed to plan a traditional Big Top Tour.

"But the creative thinking and optimism that are part of the DNA of Circus Smirkus remain unaffected by the pandemic! ... We will have more for you in the months ahead: more virtual programming; more messages of hope and excitement from Greensboro; and more ways for you to engage with us. Let's embark on a re-imagined 2021 together!  

Wishing you joy and magic,




Jennifer Carlo, Executive Director

Now, doesn't this not  make you feel a little more hopeful?

P.S. Do you ever inside your own living space catch yourself wearing a mask, or pulling up a sweater over your nose?  Would this, too, be a conundrum? I need to look up the word.