Morning Muppet Melodies

Yesterday L's friend Gracie came over to play and brought L and N a bag full of beautiful hand puppets that she didn't play with any more and wanted to pass along. We tucked them away quickly last night and it wasn't until early this morning when they were actually discovered by their new puppeteers.

Today was my last day of jury duty and therefore my last relaxing morning of kicking back until my 10:00 court time, but I was up around 6:00 this morning anyway trying to get back onto a work biorhythm. I was sitting out on the couch reading quietly when I heard the rustling of a plastic bag behind me in the kitchen and the double squeals of delight that surely indicated the plethora of puppets had been uncovered. There was a moment or two of excited whispering from the kitchen that had all the hallmarks of a plan being hatched. Presently my quiet was run asunder by a sudden, shrill, and not-too-in-tune rendition of It's a Small World at copious volume. Not quite sure why I was being subjected to this particular melodic favorite of mine (a favorite kind of along the lines of kidney stones), so I turned to see where the "music" was coming from. And then I realized: I hadn't been cruelly transported by some evil sorcerer to the It's a Small World ride; the ride had come to me!

For the next fifteen minutes I was treated to an endlessly repeated, though quite spirited duet of the song (and it's amazing how much "endless" can fit in fifteen minutes), while a parade of puppeteers slowly marched past me wearing various hand puppets, each rather spastically gyrating to the song. Each new pass featured a new and different hand puppet. It was hard to tell if the puppets were purporting to sing the song, or to be having long, sustained, dramatic seizures.