Tomorrow is Memorial Day in most areas of the United States. In Beauneville, it is just a regular Monday; on Thursday, May 30, Beauneville celebrates Decoration Day.
You might think that Beauneville didn't get the memo when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act on June 28, 1968. That legislation official renamed Decoration Day to Memorial Day and moved it from May 30 to the last Monday in May.
In fact, Beauneville got the memo and ignored it.
The Post Office will be closed, of course, and if you have any business at the Elmore Bigelow Butts Federal Building in Stapleton you would be well advised to postpone your trip until Tuesday. In Beauneville, however, life will be normal tomorrow.
Another thing missing in Beauneville: veterans. Beauneville denizens have a long history of avoiding military service as much as possible; not out of a principled objection to war so much as an instinctive desire for liberty and an aversion to being used as cannon fodder.
Old Ivy has recessed for the summer. Roderick, Molly, Mary Bloom, Anna and Megan gather at Mr. Smiley's house; Mr. Smiley and Clotilde want to catch up with the latest news and gossip. Alexander naps.
Clotilde offers some pickles and cheese to Roderick. "What are you doing this summer?" she wonders.
Roderick chews. "Working at the canoe barn again. The money's good, and it's nice to be here in town."
"And you, Molly?"
Molly shrugs. "You know, the usual. Playing the piano, teaching karate, nude modeling..."
It's Mary's turn. "I'll be turning tricks with Daddy's clients. He's pimping for me." Mr. Smiley does not understand what "pimping" means, but he thinks that turning tricks is a good thing, because magic is nice.
Anna plans to live with the Blooms, work on her singing, do some solo gigs and generally relax.
Megan has exciting news. She's going to be an unpaid summer intern at Lake City Opera, along with three hundred other college students. Her submission for staging Das Rheingold helped her get a foot in the door, but she clinched the matter in her interview with LCO's Executive Director, Maestro Sergio Cazzo. Kneepads played a role.
"We're doing Le Nozze di Figaro in August," she beams.
Mr. Smiley is curious. "Where will you live in Lake City?"
"Maestro Cazzo has a room in his house where I can stay. It's very convenient, right next door to his bedroom so we can consult on libretti and stuff."
Molly suspects monkey business. "Isn't that a little...unusual? You know, for a young single woman..."
Megan frowns. "Ummm...I don't see why. After all, he has a wife. Her name is Rosina."
Later that day, the Smileys attend services at the Grand Sanctuary of the Church of Metaphor, in a shabby little storefront on Railroad Avenue.
