Carnival Magic

Three years ago I met my fiancé and that meeting would set me on the path of discovering what magic is like in the modern times. As a child I remember seeing the tents, the rides, the food, and the games pop up out of no where! Driving past an empty field almost every day becomes the normal, until one day driving by what is supposed to be an empty field and finding a whole different world set up there over night.

I remember begging my mom day in and day out to go to the carnival, to go see what kind of new land is suddenly inhabiting my usually boring childhood. Sometimes it was no, and sometimes it was the greatest thing I could ever imagine to see. The lights! The food! The rides! The toys! It was like a waking dream, the screams of other kids riding the rides, the peal of laughter through the crowd when someone won a prize from one of the games. The smile on my own mom's face with the first bite out of an elephant ear, her absolute favorite treat from the carnival. It was a dream come true.

I never imagined what it was actually like to put on such a show for all those people. To bring so much color, life, and fun to a whole crowd of people, young and old alike. Well, I've spent the last three years traveling with a carnival, and let me tell you, the magic is real. The amount of skill and effort it takes for the crew to get everything set up and ready for opening is beyond astounding. The men who set up the rides do so in mere hours, making sure everything goes together properly, that its all up to safety standards, and that everything runs smoothly is an extremely important task to ensure the carnival is packed full of safe excitement.

Game tents go together like puzzles pieces, put together and raised by hand, poles stuck through the top to make sure the brilliantly colored canvases are stretched taut to show off their colors. The games within put together piece by piece, watching it all come together until the game is clear to recognize; fishing for sharks, popping balloons, even making a basket! While the games themselves are tempting to best, the wide array of prizes offered is the real eye grabber, as the saying goes, 'Flash is cash!' Bears in every color, miniature stuffed giraffes in greens and blues, fish and frogs in every color, and all ranging in sizes! From the smallest tiara, to the biggest husky you've ever seen!

Food trailers packed full of tantalizing treats and delicious fried foods to chow down on. Whether your favorite is cotton candy or a bowl full of fried pickles, you can find almost anything on a midway! From caramel apples to snow cones, corn dogs to philly-cheese-steak sandwiches, there's a craving satisfier for everyone.

After working behind the scenes of a carnival for the last 3 years, I've come to realize that there are children out there experiencing this for the first time in their lives, and I can see the same magic I once held in my own eyes reflecting back at me through theirs. I have not found any other calling that speaks to me more than watching a little kid try their hardest to win a prize and succeeding, or asking me if they're tall enough to ride this ride, or if they could pretty please have some fried Oreos.

Magic lives within all of us, but the ones who believe it the most are the children, and I will do everything I can to make sure the magic I spread sparkles the brightest in their memories. I hope to become a story parents can tell to their children, to be the reason a family returns the next year to see what magic I have for them this year. To slowly watch a child grow over the years, to be someone they continue to recognize as someone that is magical.