One more thing about the circus....
We had GREAT seats. I’ve never had seats like that for anything…not a High School band concert, even. We were 2 rows back from “center stage”. When they were doing their skits, the performers were maybe 5 feet away from me. I could see the creases in the makeup, that some performers were a LOT older than they wanted to appear.
And then, it hits me. I’ve got highly made-up women on a platform above me dancing in spandex, sequins, and stockings: