It’s not that I fancy myself either incredibly cultured or the next James Bond imitator, but such was my Happy Holly activity today … for the most part.

Each year there is a local set of Arts Festivals … some generic, some specific … and today was one of them. The African-American Festival this time. And I attended.

With great joy, I saw several friends I had not seen for some time. Caught up on happenings both old and new. Births, deaths, marriages, un-marriages. And all was wonderful.

The various creations were a joy to behold. And I pampered myself with various Shea Butter creations and Culinary Treats. And all was good. I even took a good while to sit in a booth set up for folks who wanted to sit a while and chat.

Imagine that. Me. Chat.

And then set in the espionage. Oh goodie.

Enter two candidates for office. Both men. Both non-incumbents. Both from the same profession. Both vying for public service. But there the similarities end … at least as far as I can see.

We will call them the Uniter and the Divider. Can you guess which one I am rooting for?

The Uniter has knocked on several thousand doors in the area, introducing himself and encouraging everyone to work together for a better way. His grassroots supporters are happy to have such a good candidate.

The Divider accepted money from a large out-of-state organization and successfully unseated an incumbent in the primaries. His well-funded supporters are happy to have such a good candidate.

The Uniter shows up at all political and non-political functions in the area … willing to introduce himself and discuss his planned policies and future plans for the area.

The Divider shows up at his own events and is counting on the large established group in place to get him into office.

At first I did not see either candidate, although both had a group of supporters in their respective political booths.

I came up to a booth in which the Uniter was busy making food for a local non-profit group and laughing and talking to all who would chat. And there was one well-dressed man in a nice casual outfit quietly hanging around the outside of the booth.

The Divider was nowhere to be seen.

So on talking to the Uniter, I offered to engage in some low-level espionage. He laughed at the idea. The well dressed man cast me a curious glance and remained silent.

After getting some of the yummy food, I continued up and down through the various booths … sampling their wares and admiring their creative products. Until I arrived at the booth of the Divider.

At this point, I became just like any other potential voter. I engaged the people there and asked questions of the folks … and scooped up the literature set out for the Divider. I was told that he was not a politician. That he would probably not become corrupt once elected to office. And that he had been the victim of a smear campaign in the primaries.

And he was not there today.

Thanking them for their information, I continued up and down the booths, working my way back to the non-profit where the Uniter was happily helping and chatting.

And laid down the collected literature … just in case anyone in his campaign wanted to check it out. Ah, espionage at its finest … Holly style.

The well-dressed man was gone after spending a good while there … and several other folks had come and gone, delighted to have met the candidate in person.

At this point I decided to work my way back to the booth for the Uniter … in which there were several folks I knew. And upon getting there I pretended to be just another voter … because across the way, the booth of the Divider was watching my every move.

I asked a few questions and turned to look at the other booth … pretending to be asking questions as though I was comparing the two candidates … and waved at the woman staring at me from behind the literature table. She waved back and continued staring.

After a few minutes, I bid farewell to my friends … sure that I had done a good job of appearing to be just another voter … and worked my was out toward the exit … and past the booth of the Divider.

As I passed I looked in once again and there … behind the literature table … was the well-dressed man … who had been standing at the non-profit booth. Listening to it all.

I laughed.  I guess I wasn’t the only one engaging in low-level espionage.

And went home to engage in a long high-level nap …  hence the lateness of this post … all this espionage stuff really wears me out.