By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet
The 4th of July at the Plan Z Diet always makes me think of carnivals.
When I was small we used to go to Pierce Park in Appleton, Wisconsin to watch the fireworks. We’d arrive before dark in order to be able to go on a few rides and then we’d settle on a blanket to watch the fireworks and listen to the salutes. I hated the salutes. They really did scare me.
My favorite ride was the Tilt-a-Whirl. I can still conjure up the woozy feeling I’d have when I got off but I loved whizzing around in that thing with my friends or relatives. Even as a young adult I still loved getting a Tilt-A-Whirl ride. These days I generally take one look at the mechanics of one of those things, measure the rust I see on the lower parts and walk away. “Walk away from the Tilt-A-Whirl”. I’m a registered Party Pooper now, I guess.
Pierce Park was the biggest park in the city. It was an old park. Old park means big trees. Big oak trees. So one of the tricks was to find an open space where you’d see the fireworks between the tree limbs. Seems kind of dumb doesn’t it?—to hold the fireworks in a park where you it was difficult to see the sky?
I know now they did that because the Fox River was right below the park. They could put the fireworks on a barge down there and shoot them off with a modicum of safety. It’s hard to type the words safety and fireworks in the same paragraph, but I do see their logic. I grew up thinking fireworks above the trees was the way it was supposed to be. You didn’t necessarily see each burst. That was part of the excitement. If that were the case now I’d be complaining. Ever the Party Pooper. How times have changed—or not.
Getting back to the rides….
One of the funniest memories of my carnival days with my brother Paul was a day at a carnival where they had a big Ferris Wheel. We wanted to ride on the Ferris Wheel. This carnival was located in a big open space in Milwaukee. No trees. The Ferris Wheel looked huge to us little kids.
We had just eaten lunch. (You can just see this one coming can’t you).
Oscar Mayer is headquartered in Wisconsin. So, of course we had hot dogs for lunch. With all of the excitement of the carnival it didn’t take us long to eat lunch. There were rides in our future. So Rock On! Keep moving! Get to the Rides!
The Ferris Wheel ride was fun. Nothing as exciting as a Tilt-A-Whirl ride but being up high was groovy. It was the 60’s and we were having innocent fun. Most of us were having fun. When Paul got off the Ferris Wheel he waddled about 15 feet from the crowd, bent over at the waist and launched his lunch on the ground. Poor Guy.
I burst out laughing.
I guess I didn’t look like I felt sorry for Paul. Actually I did, but his lunch was really funny. He had eaten his hotdog so fast he didn’t even chew it. The vomit sat on the sandy ground in half inch chunks. The edges were pretty much perfectly round. It looks like a hotdog pie that went “splat” on the ground. It still even smelled like hotdog and not really like vomit.
So have I made you laugh or gag? Jury still out?
Mission accomplished.
I hope you have a great 4th of July and that this brings back memories of your favorite funny times with friends and family.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
The 4th of July at the Plan Z Diet always makes me think of carnivals.
When I was small we used to go to Pierce Park in Appleton, Wisconsin to watch the fireworks. We’d arrive before dark in order to be able to go on a few rides and then we’d settle on a blanket to watch the fireworks and listen to the salutes. I hated the salutes. They really did scare me.
My favorite ride was the Tilt-a-Whirl. I can still conjure up the woozy feeling I’d have when I got off but I loved whizzing around in that thing with my friends or relatives. Even as a young adult I still loved getting a Tilt-A-Whirl ride. These days I generally take one look at the mechanics of one of those things, measure the rust I see on the lower parts and walk away. “Walk away from the Tilt-A-Whirl”. I’m a registered Party Pooper now, I guess.
Pierce Park was the biggest park in the city. It was an old park. Old park means big trees. Big oak trees. So one of the tricks was to find an open space where you’d see the fireworks between the tree limbs. Seems kind of dumb doesn’t it?—to hold the fireworks in a park where you it was difficult to see the sky?
I know now they did that because the Fox River was right below the park. They could put the fireworks on a barge down there and shoot them off with a modicum of safety. It’s hard to type the words safety and fireworks in the same paragraph, but I do see their logic. I grew up thinking fireworks above the trees was the way it was supposed to be. You didn’t necessarily see each burst. That was part of the excitement. If that were the case now I’d be complaining. Ever the Party Pooper. How times have changed—or not.
Getting back to the rides….
One of the funniest memories of my carnival days with my brother Paul was a day at a carnival where they had a big Ferris Wheel. We wanted to ride on the Ferris Wheel. This carnival was located in a big open space in Milwaukee. No trees. The Ferris Wheel looked huge to us little kids.
We had just eaten lunch. (You can just see this one coming can’t you).
Oscar Mayer is headquartered in Wisconsin. So, of course we had hot dogs for lunch. With all of the excitement of the carnival it didn’t take us long to eat lunch. There were rides in our future. So Rock On! Keep moving! Get to the Rides!
The Ferris Wheel ride was fun. Nothing as exciting as a Tilt-A-Whirl ride but being up high was groovy. It was the 60’s and we were having innocent fun. Most of us were having fun. When Paul got off the Ferris Wheel he waddled about 15 feet from the crowd, bent over at the waist and launched his lunch on the ground. Poor Guy.
I burst out laughing.
I guess I didn’t look like I felt sorry for Paul. Actually I did, but his lunch was really funny. He had eaten his hotdog so fast he didn’t even chew it. The vomit sat on the sandy ground in half inch chunks. The edges were pretty much perfectly round. It looks like a hotdog pie that went “splat” on the ground. It still even smelled like hotdog and not really like vomit.
So have I made you laugh or gag? Jury still out?
Mission accomplished.
I hope you have a great 4th of July and that this brings back memories of your favorite funny times with friends and family.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/
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