Our little country town has been overtaken by swarms of people erecting numerous large tents in the centre of town in preparation for the “Puppets Up!” weekend. And the weather could not be more perfect! The air is decidedly fresh and breezy; the temperature 72ºF and the same is forecast for tomorrow.
The day when I could tolerate such mobile communal activity has long ago transpired. I do however recollect the beginnings of Puppets Up! as many years ago spirited by Noreen Young OC (sister of similarly renowned artist, Stephen Brathwaite, who has also contributed enormously to our town in incalculable ways). The festival is a delight for people with young families (though I understand there is also a puppet theatre exclusively for adults). Reportedly this is the first reappearance of the Puppets Up! festival in six years. This weekend’s festival is promoted by Neilcorp Homes which I understand has it lately been purchased by Thomas Cavanagh Construction Limited (a detail I fully applaud because of its recognition for quality).
The custom of village festivals was notably captured by E. F. Benson in his Mapp and Lucia series.
Mapp and Lucia is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It brings together two sets of characters from three previous Benson novels: “Lucia” Lucas, Georgie Pillson and Daisy Quantock from Queen Lucia (1920) and Lucia in London (1927), and Miss Elizabeth Mapp and her neighbours from Miss Mapp (1922).
Mrs. Emmeline Lucas — known to all as “Lucia” — has lost her beloved husband Peppino, who has died since the previous book. Coming out of mourning after a year, she finds that Daisy Quantock has taken over the Elizabethan fête that Lucia originally planned. Determined not to stick around in Riseholme while Daisy plays Queen, Lucia and her friend Georgie Pillson drive down to the quaint seaside town of Tilling, where Elizabeth Mapp lives. Mapp is renting out her house, Mallards, for the summer, and she’s delighted to have Lucia as her tenant, since she visited Riseholme several summers before. Lucia convinces Georgie to rent the nearby Mallards Cottege, and he joins her for the summer.
As I cycled past the Elizabeth Kelly Library parking lot this morning I observed that the large Victorian tent erected in the parking lot had consumed what is normally the domain of the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. It is a deprivation we shall have to withstand as the puppet festival overwhelms the core of the town within site of the Old Town Hall and the bridge over the Mississippi River.
Coincidentally as I rode along the Ottawa Valley Trail across the bridge towards Carrs Street I heard a voice call my name from the adjacent shrubbery. It was Philip Wood, art dealer, framing specialist and former municipal councillor. He was engaged in thrashing a pathway through the bushes to his property (supposedly at the request of his wife, Gay, though I am as yet uncertain precisely why). As Philip and I gossiped about our respective health and the weather my Apple Watch suddenly made the sound of a telephone call. It points to the singularity of the event that it took me a moment to adjust to the technology and to acquaint myself with its facility. I spoke to the watch on my wrist. It was a call from Mary Lou Souter who only yesterday advised of her intention to run for election to municipal council. When I afterwards explained to Philip that it was Mary Lou who had called and that she was about to announce her intention to run for election, he instantly replied, “She has my vote!” The immediate inclination I am certain reflects the majority view of the town. I was nonetheless pleased to hear his approbation.
By further chance Philip and I spoke of an oil painting I purchased from him years ago. The painting (the hull of a sailing yacht on the open water) distinguishes itself by including a Swedish flag (barely visible) mounted on the stern of the yacht. I reminded Philip that my parents once lived in Stockholm and for that reason (in addition to the nautical theme) the painting was dear to me. I mention these trivialities because strangely Philip expressed the interest (decades ago) to reacquire the painting from me because it had been painted by a relative of his. Indeed it may even have been the woman (or relation of hers) who was married in France mere weeks ago. Philip explained that he and Gay had been unable to make the trip and had to cancel the expedition due to certain health issues. And while all this is significant, we extended the European intelligence further by his mentioning that someone else in his family (or connection of his) had lately purchased a small but extraordinary property complete with olive grove on a hillside in France overlooking a magnificent view. This prompted me to recall my amazement upon first visiting Montepulciano, Italy. And if you’re wondering where all this is going, we both proclaimed the superiority of our effable town! The gusto was ornamented with an iteration of the many advantages we attach to our residency here.
Montepulciano is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and comune in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a 605-metre (1,985 ft) limestone ridge, 13 kilometres (8 mi) east of Pienza, 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Siena, 124 kilometres (77 mi) southeast of Florence, and 186 kilometres (116 mi) north of Rome by car.