Oops! Bring on the clowns – that’s the wrong big top, for our purpose today anyway. It’s the ceiling of the beloved Orpheum Theatre – let’s not even imagine it with high wires and tightrope walkers.
I’m drawn to those images, though, as I look out my kitchen window toward the building going up a block to the north.
Very big on safety ropes I am, even as I wonder how circus professionals do without. I imagine those super-skills are top of mind for the remarkable Fern Andra as she continues to audition new players.
Okay, then. Let’s get this show on the road. Whoo hoo! According to Idioms Online, “This idiom alludes to a theatrical production or perhaps a roadshow, such as a circus, going on tour. The precise origin is unknown, but it has been used since at least the 1940s.”
Getting started:
Moving right along.
And the finale, “Under the Big Top” (Audition Series, copyright 2026.)
This deserved another cup of coffee and a restful interlude with a book I’d just checked out from the VanDusen Library.
OMG!! In that mysterious way that things sometimes unfold, I saw that there was a chapter on ferns. You’ve heard of Tulipomania? Well, Richard Mabey describes a similar phenomenon, the 19th century fern craze called pteridomania.
At that time, there was a roaring enthusiasm for fern motifs in the decorative arts and an even louder roar for collecting and growing ferns – like these ferns in a Wardian case (think terrarium).
Mabey reminded me, too, of something I knew perfectly well:-- that ferns were living and thriving well before the dinosaur era, and there’s ample fossil evidence to testify to the species’ lifespan.
As I followed the internet trail and became more and more infatuated, I asked Google: "Are ferns addictive?" The answer: “No, but they can be highly captivating and easily lead to a plant-collecting hobby.” Well, not for me. I’d just as soon let them run wild along my back fence while I stick with the pictures and the stories.
In our next edition, Fern Andra will have chosen from the auditioning players. Do you think this guy will make the cut?
