Merry-Go-Round
by Jake Barnes
Most kids love carnival rides. I did not. I liked to throw darts at balloons and eat caramel apples, but rides like the tilt-a-whirl and Ferris wheel, no. My favorite ride was the merry-go-round. That was safe enough, and it didn't make me sick. I hated the tilt-a-whirl. My friends would twist my arm, and I'd go, and every time I'd get a queasy stomach and throw up.
I steered clear of the pony rides, too. I got talked into it once. The other kids' ponies were docile. They plodded around and around in a circle. Mine tried to bite me. He went over to a corner and just stood there.
I thought the Ferris wheel was dumb. All it did was give you a high altitude view of the little Minnesota town where I had grown up. Boring.
Roller coaster? Don't even mention it. I've never been on a roller coaster, and I wouldn't go on one if my life depended on it.
The merry-go-round. Now there's a good ride. The carved and painted horses are works of art. The music is good, too. You don't hear that kind of music in church. The music is fun, it's crazy. It's diabolical. The undertones of mad hilarity appeal to my dark side.
You can learn things from riding the merry-go-round, too. You get on, you go in a circle, you get off. What's important is the last part. Don't forget to get off when the music stops. There are a lot of situations in life that this applies to.
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Author's Note
Memories of childhood plus some things I learned later. The hard way, I might add.
Sage advice indeed.*
"no longer riding on the merry-go-round...I just had to let it go" (john lennon)...love this piece, reminds me of "watching the wheels" and other good stuff.
"The carved and painted horses are works of art. The music is good, too. You don't hear that kind of music in church. The music is fun, it's crazy. It's diabolical. The undertones of mad hilarity appeal to my dark side."
*
*!
"I steered clear of the pony rides, too. I got talked into it once. The other kids' ponies were docile. They plodded around and around in a circle. Mine tried to bite me. He went over to a corner and just stood there. "
A "friend" and I were walking around the grounds of an art museum in nola when we came across an old, inactive, merry-go-round.
She thought it was sweet.
For some reason it gave me a melancholic case of the deep-sea blues.
And I stepped off that ride.
As a teen I had a rep for riding anything at the fair. I really loved the tilt-a-whirl. The last time I rode one was at City Park in New Orleans back in the 90's and I about snatched the skin off my nephews arm. When you get older you realize the possible frailties of old machinery!
Cool story. I really love the last paragraph.
Love the contrarian first paragraph.
Actually love the contrarianism of a kid with a professed dark side but a squeamish streak.