Geek Love

We almost missed our turn not seeing the little sign for the rug factory.  As we made a sharp right we were confused as there were random animals straight ahead of us.  Not dogs, or chickens, or cows, but lions, tigers, ponies, elephants and a camel!  The randomness of this journey just gets better and better!  The carnie was in town in the adjacent lot next to where we were to get loaded.  As we passed the animals in our eighteen-wheeler, we quickly checked in and backed into the door to get loaded.  Luckily they were slow and it took them close to two hours so we had enough time to kick it with the carnie folk.  Their ten month season just kicked off from Sarasota, FL, home of all carnie folk in the country.  The small family owned business made it to this small town in Georgia for two days, getting ready for the two shows they had scheduled for the afternoon and evening.



It was lunchtime for the lions and tigers, so we lucked out and witnessed the feeding!  Chicken and Angus beef!  Two white lions from South Africa, two brother lions from Africa, and four Siberian tigers.  The truck driver for all the lions is also their caretaker.  In the business for only two years, this will be his last season with this Latin circus family, moving on to work with the Ringling Brothers.  The entire time speaking to random members of the crew brought back fond memories from one of our favorite fictional novels by Catherine Dunn : Geek Love.  If you're into carnies and the unexpected it's a must and fun read!