Juggling studies, sharp objects

March 10, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Thirteen-year-old Ryland &#8220Ry” Obeso practices juggling whenever he gets a spare moment between home-school studies, interacting with his four younger siblings or helping his mother in her yarn and needlework business.

&#8220I can juggle basically anything,” he said.

Ry picked up juggling when he was 6 years old in Dutch Harbor when a fisherman/construction worker who followed the booms taught him - starting with bean bags and then graduating to clubs.

&#8220He was a great old man,” he said.

This past Christmas in Palmer, Ry unwrapped three knives and three flammable torches - juggling products ordered via the Internet from a store in Santa Barbara, Calif.

With almost seven years of juggling under his belt and a few months' experience with knives, Ry wishes there were a way to earn money doing the thing he loves - at least a little more money than the $6 thrown into an empty hat outside Vagabond Blues while he juggled for passers-by over the Christmas holidays. He split that profit with two friends who accompanied him on the venture.

In late May, Palmer's Friday Flings kick off, and Ry has agreed to be one of the roving entertainers at the home-grown event. In fact, Friday Flings was where he met someone who juggled knives, and became interested in learning to do that.

In June, he'll travel with his mom to the Seattle International Juggling Festival. He said looks forward to that trip, and hopes he'll have some spending money by then.

&#8220I'm trying to find a job that pays me to juggle,” he said, adding that he's even looked on the Internet and hasn't found any.

He may want to find work at a rather young age, but he doesn't want to get his driver's permit this summer when he turns 14.

When asked if dangerous drivers on the road were causing him to approach this milestone with caution, he answered &#8220Yes and no. I would rather stick to my bike.”

The lifelong Alaskan spends a good portion of his time at Fantastic Fibers, which is housed in Tommy Moe's former home, on South Cobb.

&#8220I mostly do my homework, stay out of the way of my brothers and sisters. When they get in a fight, it's quite an uproar. I help at the cash register when my mom needs it,” he said. &#8220I run errands, too. That's fun because I get to go outside.”

Ry enjoys living in Palmer because there are more things to explore than in Dutch Harbor. He likes to check out different businesses around town.

&#8220I just go wherever. I like Vagabond. It's a good place for cheap food,” Ry said. He accompanied a former music teacher during a performance there, playing his trumpet for an audience. Music joins vocabulary and spelling as his favorite subjects.

&#8220If there was a local juggling store in Palmer, I'd go every day,” he said.

He does, however, miss walking along the ocean in Unalaska as well as the photo frames his mother designed with sea shells.

Ry looks forward to summertime, when it's easier to explore, he said.

When he wants to juggle lighted torches, he can't do it in the house. The cold air extinguishes the flames, but he used a still-lit torch to reignite the dead one and starts over. His siblings, including a toddler who pulled on winter boots for the trip outdoors, watch.

&#8220I juggle whenever I can,” he said. &#8220I don't know why I'm good at it. I just am.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.