Ferris Wheel Flirting

I'd like to zone into a bit of carnival nostalgia, please. Can we discuss? I don't know how your town was, but Fair Lawn's Annual Carnival was like, um, kind of a big deal. It came in every year and settled firmly on the greens of Memorial Middle School (the better of the two middle schools we had in town.)

Unlike an amusement park (stationary,) traveling carnivals move from place to place, usually during specific seasons. These carnivals provide oodles of fun-for-all-ages with their concession stands, game booths and of course, the rides.

Let's get serious for a second. I'm not by any means implying that Fair Lawn sported a budget that could provide us with Meadowlands Fair-type rides. There was no roller coaster, no miniature golfing and no tilt-a-whirl. But you know what they did have? A Ferris Wheel.

Whenever I think of a ferris wheel, I think of the scene in the movie Fear, starring Reece Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg. Do you remember the scene when they were crushing on each other and were up in a ferris wheel where he does a little inappropriate hanky panky? Yea, well - watching that scene gave me butterflies in my stomach each and every time. And NOT because I'm afraid of heights, if you catch my high-in-the-sky drift. And how could it not? The movie came out in 1996; I was a freshman in high school. The only reason we WENT to these carnivals as teens was to meet up with boys you had crushes on. Face it, carnivals are traveling flirtation stations. Your parents let you stay out just a little bit later, your outfits were properly thought out and you had already solidified plans with said crush to "ride the ferris wheel together." Man, how I wish it were that easy again.