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21 August, 2008

It's Not Only Coming, It's Here!

The other morning (was it only yesterday?) I posted a sunrise picture of some carny equipment. I wasn't sure if they were really coming to town or just passing through. Well, there's no doubt now. They are busy setting up for a fun time here in Corozal.

Of course, at the time the girls and I come by in the morning, there's nary a roustabout rousting, or whatever it is called that they do.
The Carnival Is Taking Shape
I heard that the carny had been up in San Joaquin a couple of days ago, and that they had a pretty big midway. It'll be smaller here in Corozal as they've split the carny into two parts - this bit and the other is at the Sports Center on the north end of town. That'll keep the crowds from impacting the highway into town too much.
Mickey and Friends
It seems expensive to me, but the price as posted on the merry-go-round above is $5 BZ a ride. That's at least a fourth of a day's wages for most folks down here. I guess they must know the fair is coming to town and save their money for a couple of weeks to give the kids a good time. Apparently, when the carny was in San Joaquin there was no shortage of customers for the rides.
Lots Of Rides For The Little Ones
Regardless, the fair should be a fun time for a lot of folks. There just isn't that much entertainment for families locally. Besides, it was always a highlight for me as a kid when the carny came to town. It always seemed that the most excitement was the anticipation, when they were setting things up, and everyone would talk about what rides they wanted to go on, what they wanted to eat, etc.

The reality of the rides not being quite up to your imagination, the barker's being kind of jerky, all conspired to put a bit of a damper on the experience.

One thing that was always good, was the food along the midway. Elephant ears, hotdogs, burgers, cotton candy, licorice ropes, pop - all the fair food that was so good for you, always tasted good.
Bits and Pieces Being Set Up
Secret and Cindy didn't seem too impressed with the whold carnival thing when we went by this morning. I'd stop to take a photo and they'd just sit patiently, waiting for me to get done, obviously wanting to get back to the business of the walk.

As we passed "Cannon Corners" as it used to be called, we continued on the highway this morning to Lano's Hardware where we turned off to head downtown to the waterfront. Along the way, on the highway, is a statue that was put up by the Corozal Town council, celebrating Corozal working toward the future (I think that's a rough translation).
Corozal Statue of the Future
This is one of the stranger statues I have ever seen. For the longest time, when they were first building it, I could not figure out what they were building. It definitely is a unique outlook on life and living here.

The other strange thing that occurred was just as we turned off the highway to head to the waterfront, we were accosted by a brown Labrador-looking dog. He barked and growled like he was big and bad. The girls and I just ignored him and kept on our way. That seemed to confuse him so he didn't know quite what to do. I guess he decided walking somewhere was better than hanging around downtown, as he fell into line with the girls. I was leading the pack so I was in front and all three of them were slightly behind. The brown dog ranged once in a while out in front, like he was scouting, then quickly returned as if he was part of the pack. His head was slightly down and the tail straight out - both signs of submission, as though he was asking to be part of the pack.

I tried chasing him away a couple of times, but he managed to stay. He walked with us clear through town, back out along the highway and up to our turnoff to head home. Just about there, he got side-tracked at someone's house, checking things out. We just kept walking and never saw him again. Probably just as well. Out pack doesn't need to be any bigger right now.

All in all, it was a really good walk. So good in fact, that Secret got totally pooped out and was dragging on her leash the last quarter of a mile of the walk. She's in the living room right now, as you can see, recouperating.
Secret Pooped From Her Walk

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