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Ex-Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard gets minor league deal with Braves

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Legendary comedian Rickles dead at 90

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; There is something about elephants that has always amazed me.</p><p>Their sheer size is one thing, but it&#8217;s also those flopping ears, that trumpeting trunk, their long ivory tusks and that perpetual smile on their faces.</p><p>And, of course, the smell.</p><p>Nothing says welcome to the circus better than the smell of the elephants. While deep in my heart, I wish all wild animals could remain in the wild, seeing them in person is really quite an attraction. As much as I would love to take a trip to Africa and visit the dark continent, I&#8217;m not sure I would want to encounter any wild animal in their natural habitat.</p><p>Even as recently as, oh say, a couple years ago, I longed to get in line with all those kids and take a once-around ride on an elephant inside the Kingston Armory at the annual Shrine Circus. But I never did. Instead, I sat in my balcony seat and enviously watched the grade-schoolers get a thrill of a lifetime high atop a huge, smiling grey pachyderm.</p><p>And now I&#8217;m told that the circus is indeed in town, but it is on its farewell tour. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum &amp; Bailey Circus is performing at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza through Sunday.</p><p>I was hoping to talk to a circus worker &#8212; any worker &#8212; but apparently they are very busy people. I wanted to ask the workers how they are feeling about this being the farewell tour. I wanted to ask them what their plans are for the future. I wanted to hear the emotion in their voices and see it on their faces &#8212; even if they were clown faces.</p><p>When we were kids, it was not uncommon to hear about some kid who told his parents that he or she was going to run off and join the circus. Even Beaver Cleaver tried that with Ward and June. He didn&#8217;t get far though &#8212; I think they found him down the street in a park.</p><p>But there was always that allure of the Big Top. To be able to run away and join up with a troupe of performers &#8212; lion tamers, acrobats, clowns, sword swallowers and human cannonballs. Maybe I could be shot out of a cannon? Maybe not.</p><p>But I would be in the circus, not in Mrs. Griffith&#8217;s fifth-grade class. Oh, the joy of it all. Pack me a handkerchief with some underwear and cookies, tie it to the end of a long stick, and away I would go. See you later mom and dad &#8212; I&#8217;m joining the circus.</p><p>It all sounded so adventurous back then. But since I never actually did run off to join any circus, I still long for that life. That&#8217;s why I was hoping to talk to some of these performers &#8212; many of them third- or fourth-generation circus people. I wanted to learn about their life and how much they enjoy it. Is this something they are glad they have done their entire lives?</p><p>Or do they long for a simpler life, like going to school and listening to Mrs. Griffiths teach us how to structure sentences and solve math problems &#8212; not to mention learning the Declaration of Independence by heart.</p><p>I still wonder if these circus people would like to go to a real high school, take a date to the prom, play sports, apply to college, become a teacher or an engineer or a doctor or lawyer. Would they like to have a nice home in the suburbs or out in the country, with a couple of kids and a dog running around?</p><p>Do circus people look at life in what we know as normal and long for it? Have any of them ever told their parents that they are going to run off and join the real world?</p><p>All I know is that circuses are great to watch. Putting aside the humane issues regarding the treatment of animals, I challenge anyone to go to a circus and find one kid without a smile on his or her cotton-candy-smeared face.</p><p>As you sit there and watch act after act, you will see eyes widen and you will hear oohs and ahhs. You will hear laughter and clapping and cheering. You will see and hear fun all night.</p><p>That&#8217;s what circus people do, and I&#8217;m sure it is what re-charges their batteries every night. I&#8217;m sure it has a lot to do with them wanting to wake up each day and do the best they can again for all those kids and adults who walk through the gates.</p><p>The circus is dying &#8212; long live the people who have entertained us.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_circus.clowns.toned_-1.jpg">
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Feet to the Big Top: Imagining a circus life