Grab the Brass Ring

When I was a kid we would spend the summers with my grandparents and great grandparents at their homes in Monticello Indiana. The houses were on a small bluff overlooking Lake Shafer.  And down the lake was a small amusement park and board-walk called Indiana Beach.  It has been there for generations.  (My mother saw Elvis there.) 

For us as kids it was a once or twice a summer treat to go down and ride the roller coaster, whirl-a-gig and of course the carousel.

If you rode one of the horses on the far outside ring of the carousel you could try to grab a ring from a dispenser arm that stuck out towards the carousel.  As a kid it was a real challenge.  Most of the rings were iron but one or two on each ride would be brass.  If you got a brass ring you got to come back for a second free ride.

Maybe in today's world of 3D movies and shoot em up games on our computer devices a carousel seems a little tame, but for me as a kid it was a thrill.  Just trying to grab that ring was so exciting and to actually get one of those brass rings made me feel like a real winner.

As a LBG (Late Breaking Gay) it is as though I have finally been able to grab the brass ring - and now I am getting that second chance - that free ride.

If you are reading this and have not come out of the closet - I assure you - that second chance is a real thrill. 

If you have come out - enjoy the ride.