Round and Round They Go . . .

. . . and where they stop, nobody knows! I took these beautiful photographs of antique carousel horses at the Spokane, Washington Riverfront Park. The carousel is just one leftover relic from the l974 World’s Fair addressing environmental concerns. The city had cleaned up the Spokane River and figured they could teach the rest of the world how to clean up their rivers as well. And they did.

I’ll never forget my very first carousel ride in the late 1940s or early 1950s at the zoo in Jacksonville, Florida.

Antique Carousel, originally uploaded by aliceatwintersong.

I was mesmerized by the beauty of those brightly painted wooden horses. I believe there were three rows around the circle but it looked like twice as many, as there were mirrored tiles around the circular base. I can’t remember more than two or three rides, but I remember I could never get the knack for choosing the proper horse.

I wanted a wild horse that kicked butt and sashayed up and down going around the track, but all I ever managed to get was the horse that was either broken or was stationary and just went round without going up and down at all. My city cousins always seemed to choose the perfect horses. I suppose they could have taught me what to look for in a horse, but I wrack my brain and I can’t remember telling a single soul why those rides always disappointed me. I was the country mouse visiting my cousins in the city. What did I know?

If you’re looking hard for a metaphor in this posting, I’m pretty sure you’ll find one. But no matter. I’ve always loved horses–real ones as well as painted ones.

4 thoughts on “Round and Round They Go . . .”

I never picked the right horse either, but it was still a thrill to go round and round.

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I still love carousels, even though I can no longer ride them. Some kind of middle ear problem. When you get back to New York, check out the folk art museum. They seem to have a collection of wonderful old ones.

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