Surrounded by elephants…

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I’m heading out to find a circus taking a break. It’s winter time. The Clyde Beatty show is hunkered down out in the middle of nowhere, waiting for spring. I drive a couple hours, find the place. There are lots of old buildings and sheds and clusters of cages stacked high, some old railroad cars. You can hear lions roaring, which is pretty cool. But there aren’t any people. None.

I start hiking across this field. Way in the back there’s a big barn. Still nobody. I get to the barn. Knock. Nothing. I go in. From bright sunlight into total darkness. It’s gonna take days for my eyes to adjust.

I start shuffling slowly into the room, then stop, realizing I can’t see my hand in front of my face. Just the slightest sense of creepy. Probably a better idea just to wait a minute.

So I stand there. Not sure if it’s my imagination, but I think I can hear something. A faint… touching. Mebbe it’s a mouse tiptoeing across a bed of hay. I’m concentrating now, hard. Another touch off to my left. I wait. I still can’t see.

Another, but I’m not sure. But now there’s something else. A sense. I feel something – in the air around me. Take my hands outa my pockets. I’m just beginning to be able to see. I’m in a room, a smaller room than I expected, with high walls. There’s that sound again. Now it’s coming into focus, the wall. And it seems to be coming closer. It’s more of a circle. It’s becoming a circle.

Elephants. A bunch of em. Every one of em, staring.

I walked into their barn. They surrounded me and I barely heard squat. They’re stepping feather-light. How do they do that?

Closer now.

At the same moment, this is perhaps one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced and mebbe not so cool. You start wondering if the small human has done anything that might aggravate the pachys. It’s not like I had permission.

I can see the door behind one guy. I walk up to him.

Up to his thigh.

I give it a slap. Not a hard slap. Not a stupid slap. But a firmish, confident slap, the kind you use when you move elephants aside on a regular basis. Coming through, I say.

Big Boy ain’t movin.

I’m committed. So I squeeze. It is not easy. He stands firm. I get skinny.

Shut the door behind me.