Why do I live in a small town in Indiana? I think the knock on my door the other night can help explain this one. To start with, most people don’t knock on our door, they walk right in! For another – it was a neighbor a street and a half over inviting us to a circus put on by her visiting grandkids…who also happen to be in a circus club (and to bring a side dish to share)!

We had no idea what to expect. I threw together a red potato and green bean vinegar and oil salad with my farmer’s market purchases from that morning and, well, you can imagine my surprise when – the street was hopping! Fifty people minimum, no problem. They actually had the street closed off at each end – only in a small town, right?

There were chairs set up across the street from the house (as well as chairs that people brought from home), a water and punch table, various large framed circus prints, and a makeshift spotlight over it all.   Plus a very long table laden with yummy stuff: pasta salads and dessert pizza, layer cakes and veggie trays.

I didn’t know everyone but it didn’t matter. The kids all played together or chatted while the performers got ready, the grown-ups mingled, chatted, and ate. After the sound check – the circus was on!

What a circus this was! These kids juggled, they juggled while one girl walked slowly between two jugglers, they juggled on unicycles, with balls and clubs — and did figure-8’s (then reversed it!).

A girl stood on a ball and managed to move it between colorful cones. They performed classic skits and walked on stilts. It. Was. Fun! Especially after the show when we could try out everything! Yes, I rode the clown bike which is a lot harder than you’d think! Hubs learned how to juggle and he could even balance on the ball. The circus definitely brought out his inner Carnie!

It’s nights like that that remind us why we chose to live in a small town. Sure, we don’t have twenty brands of orange juice to chose from at the grocery store, yes, you could sit in a lawn chair in the middle of the street on a Sunday in town and not have to get out of the way very often, and yup, you will always see someone you know no matter where you go (two people if you leave the house without make-up), and Cornhole is pretty big in these parts, too. But, then again, so is the sense of community.

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3. Southfork Restaurant in Mulberry, Indiana Dishes out the Good
4. Best Ever Rest Stop in little Indiana
5. Wonderful Whiting, Indiana