The fears I wrote about last night did not come to fruition. Yesterday’s night at the carnival was apparently uneventful, in a good way. Personally, I enjoyed myself yet again. I absolutely love seeing people, even people I weren’t too fond of in high school. It’s a great familiar feeling watching everyone walk around again, just like through school hallways.
Tonight, night three, is the parade. Although I’m not a huge fan of parades, it’s a nice change-up.
Wow! That was an interesting first night of what’s shaping up to be the most uncomfortable Dover Carnival in history. Personally, I had a great time. It was really wonderful to see many of my friends again; I’ve realized just how much I miss them. Working non-stop has its downsides, it appears.
In the last paragraph, I predicted that the carnival would be “uncomfortable”. Last night, a kid was either physically assaulted or “mugged”. Although I don’t know all of the details, it’s really unfortunate. To add onto this, the hooligans who started Dover High School’s (much talked about) decline traveled around together in packs. It was unsettling.
Although I’m enjoying myself, this year’s carnival feels different so far – different in a bad way.
I hope I’m overreacting.
I come home exhausted each day after working, but I absolutely adore my job. I get to wake up every day and teach kids about computers. I believe we make the greatest impact on the world by educating children, and I personally love technology. It’s a great fit.
But as I pull into the driveway sometime between 5:30 and 6 each evening this week, I have something bigger to look forward to.
That’s right – it’s that time of year. It’s Dover Carnival time.
The Dover Carnival is the greatest gathering of people in this little town I call home. It’s been weeks since I’ve seen most of my friends; I’ve missed them quite a bit, so I’m very grateful for this opportunity to see them all.
Quoting myself from last year,
Perhaps the Dover Carnival isn’t a time or place. Maybe it’s a state of mind: one where we try to let go of our problems and fly in the air singing about pirates; one where we wander around aimlessly until finding the warm feeling of friendship; one where we spend too much money on food to compensate for having too much fun; one where Dover isn’t a place we complain about for being too small, or too far away from civilization, but instead a place that we all love. Join me, let’s let each and every day be the Dover Carnival.
As you can see, I love this thing.
It runs from Wednesday evening to Saturday night. Just like last year, I’ll be writing about it here on the blog. If dilly-daddle about my small town isn’t appealing, just skip those posts. Between spending each night there and getting up early for my awesome job, I’ll be a zombie by Sunday.
I’m excited, nonetheless.
This is definitely going to be the best week of this year.
It was, Ricky; it most certainly was. Overall, I had an awesome time at the carnival. I was able to ride impressive rides and hang out with friends and acquaintances I’d normally never see. For these reasons, I’m going to miss it. I wish that every day could be the Dover Carnival. But, while writing this point, I gave it some intense thought.
Perhaps the Dover Carnival isn’t a time or place. Maybe it’s a state of mind: one where we try to let go of our problems and fly in the air singing about pirates; one where we wander around aimlessly until finding the warm feeling of friendship; one where we spend too much money on food to compensate for having too much fun; one where Dover isn’t a place we complain about for being too small, or too far away from civilization, but instead a place that we all love. Join me, let’s let each and every day be the Dover Carnival.
The grand finale to end all finales: the conclusion to the 2007 Dover Carnival. Obviously, the event retained its high-class status throughout, and never ceased to amaze me. The fireworks were spectacular, perhaps the best I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure whether to tribute my excitement to the fireworks themselves, or to the spot I watched them from, which was very close to spectacle.
A highlight of the fourth night for me was discovering, amidst a group of people I was talking to, an open condom on the ground. There’s no better way to get a crowd to disperse than to point down and exclaim, “Is that a condom?” Being the journalistic fellow I am, I asked a girl who stepped on said condom to describe her experience:
Ew! Gross! Disgusting!
I was glad to come to the rescue there.
I have more to say, but I’m saving it for another post.
It gets really fun night three of Dover’s fine carnival: there’s a parade. I enjoyed it, just like every other year’s. And of course, soon after, giant clumps of people formed on the grass to chat about life since the Dover High School graduation. It was a good time. An interesting thing happened though…
While at the Ferris Wheel, I noticed that there was no one navigating the machine and it was spinning like normal, sans passengers. Baffled, I looked around for the friendly carnival staff-person whose job it is to control the beast of a ride. I couldn’t just stand there, I was shocked, so I had two choices: vociferate, or innovate. Going over my options, I decided that intense displays of emotion in the public arena only undermine myself. Thus, feeling clever, I dubbed the vacant device “Ferris Wheel’s Day Off” and waited for the friendly carnival staff-person.
The fireworks are tomorrow, see you there!