Well, today was the big day. We got up early, before the sun was even up, stopped at the QuikTrip for gas and caffeine, and were on our way into the sunrise. An hour later, we'd landed on the lot that Kelly Miller Circus was setting up on, next to a lumber yard and within view of the highway. RV's were lined up almost touching, and if it weren't for the men moving around the tent, you would've thought everyone was asleep.
On the ground were small bundles of canvas. I wasn't even sure we were watching the right tent going up, it just didn't seem like enough canvas to me. But sure enough, when the men started pulling out the bundles and straightening them up, they were plenty big enough.
As the men raised the tent, a small pickup with a strange device travelled around the circumference of the growing canvas, pounding in stakes. For those stakes that the truck couldn't do because of location, canvas men with sledges put the stakes in the ground.
The stakes looked like nails. They are, however, about 3 feet long, and as big around as my wrist. They weigh about 25 lbs. apiece. The picture below makes them look like 5 penny nails or something. They aren't.
Once the stakes were in the ground and the canvas rolled out, one man went around the entire tent and laid out the tie-lines, then tied each one to a stake. In general, two tie-lines were put on each stake, but at times there were three attached.
Underneath the canvas, before it was rolled out, many many poles were laid around, like the spokes of a wheel. These poles were about 8 foot tall and had a sharp metal point on the top end. These are the sidewall poles. Inside this perimiter were bigger poles, about 20 feet long, too big around for me to circle with two hands, and also with a point on the top. These are the quarter poles. And inside this perimeter, there wer four huge shiny poles with chains at the top, at least 30 feet long, and probably weighing somewhere around 300 lbs. These are the center poles. It was these poles that Viola waited for. Viola is a 10,000-plus Asian elephant who helps Kelly Miller put up their tent every day. Some tents only have two center poles, some one, but most tents have at least four.
Once the canvas is out, tied town, and the side poles' points are inserted in their holes, the tent crew goes to work with amazing speed. Starting on one side of the round tent, side poles are raised to a standing position, and Viola goes in to raise the first of the quarter poles. Once the first three or four of these is raised, Viola gets to rest a bit while the canvas men work continuing to put up sidewall poles, tie up the sidewall canvas, and push the quarter poles into place. Pretty soon, the entire tent is off the ground, and we are allowed to go inside and watch the rest of the work being performed. Viola is employed again to pull up quarter poles, and I find this work rather fascinating. She is fitted with a sort of harness that has chains on it that trail behind her. The chains are fasted to the bottoms of the quarter poles and she pulls them upright while men push on the poles and direct them into place. When most of the quarter poles are done, then the center poles are done. The entire raising took maybe 90 minutes. It might have been a bit less. I just know it went really fast.
Afterwards, we walked on the grounds a bit. I got to talk for a minute or two to the cook; her trailer and the cook tent were already up and picnic-style tables set up underneath them. The cook told us that the cook tent is also used as the school room, and I did get to very briefly meet the teacher. I hope that I will get to interview her, as my female main character will also be a teacher on a circus. When I peeked in the tent, there were about nine children, all ranging in age from 6 to 16.
Alongside the back of the cook's trailer was an array of bicycles. I thought it was a cool picture.
And finally, one more picture; my son took this one before the tent went up, with the morning clouds in the background. This was the way the tent looked before they started raising the poles.
