The greatest show on earth

Until yesterday I would have thought that phrase was an exaggeration, but after a day at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, I would say it is probably an understatement.  To mount a circus like the ones that criss crossed America from the late 1800s to the early 1950s would be a virtually impossible task.  The sheer logistical problems of moving 1500 people and as many animals, setting up a 600 x 200 tent and several others nearly as large  in a matter of hours, giving two performances of up to 2 and 1/2 hours, then packing everything and moving to the next town via a 100 car rail train and doing it all again; and again, up to 150 times during the season is mind boggling.  It makes the movement of a small army seem like a walk in the park.  They fed the entire troupe 3 times a day while it was moving also.  The array of fresh meat and produce that had to be bought, prepared and cooked was also fantastic.  Plus all the forage consumed by several hundred horses, elephants and wild animals; it added up to the equivalent of several tractor trailer loads of foodstuffs every day.  In other words, a traveling city.  Anyway, that was our day on Monday.  Today, on to the beach!