It's our third year at Celebrate Chelsea Day in Massachusetts, brought in by the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce! It is so hot, hot, hot today that our best laughs come from gifting "personal shade" to individuals of all ages via an umbrella hat! Chelsea is a very diverse neighborhood and a magnet for recent immigrants to the United States. For the many guests who speak little or no English, our antics fanning folks with scarves communicate the universal language of "cool!"
The festival has spread to two locations this year. At a midway intersection, we juggle balls with young children. Giggles. Drops. More giggles! Kids delight in co-juggling, in which they can toss a ball into my simple pattern of three. Tots just play catch. Older kids lean in, keeping alert to when I'll toss them a ball. At the far end of the fest, my sweet and silly clown partner is scarf juggling with another group of gigglers. She instigates a run around the park's central statue. Not a race, but a dash in which kids of all ages zip along, making their own breezes to float the scarves in their hands. Now, that's cool!