It's a TRICK!!!

Emmett Kelly was my favorite clown. I can't explain why either.

If you never knew of Emmet Kelly you can read about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Kelly I loved his trademark attempt to sweep up the constantly moving ever-so-evasive spotlight at the end of the show.

He was one of the true originals. His Weary Willy character, the sad clown, just pushed some buttons that the others, always being silly, never could. He made you laugh but he made you think too and he made you relate to that poor hobo working so hard to entertain the crowd despite all the obstacles constantly thrown in his path.

When I was about 10 my father gave me a paint by numbers painting of Kelly that a client of his had made and given to him. I still have it. It's beautifully done.

The client was one of these two sisters that were little (very little, maybe 4 feet 5 at best) teachers and "spinsters" (as they called them back then). They never married, lived together and each lived to be something like 90. I used to go visit them with my father during "tax season" (he's an accountant). They were always as kind as could be and would offer food but had so little of anything even for themselves and I could never pet their two little pugs as they would be behind a fence in the kitchen constantly barking and seemed to want to bite while wagging their tails. It seemed fitting that one of them painted Emmett Kelly. I always treasured that painting, always will.