What I saw last week

The circus...

(And there was a magical tent - the tastelessly named Tapis Rouge! - with a fellow carving slices of ham to put in little sandwiches, and custard and ladyfingers in martini glasses on a conveyor belt during the intermission, and glasses of champagne pressed into one's hand!)

When I was little, I liked all of Noel Streatfeild's books very much - I was more strongly drawn to theater than to dance or tennis or figure-skating any of the other things she would now and again write about - I could not, in all honesty, fantasize about joining the circus, since gymnastics was second only to baseball as absolute most-hated least favorite gym-class activity - but I certainly read Circus Shoes many a time, checking it out again and again from the library....

(The female character Santa lies about her ability to play the violin, but turns out to have a talent for gymnastics - I thought that probably if I needed to make a living at the circus, while I might not have the background for animal training or the wherewithal for acrobatics, I could almost certainly play the clarinet in the band!)