Finding Larkspur: A Return to Village Life

by Dan Needles

Bestselling chronicler of village life Dan Needles (author of the Wingfield Farm stage plays) leads an insightful and laugh-out-loud tour through the quirks and customs of today’s Canadian small town. Modern literature has not been kind to village life. For almost two centuries, small towns have been portrayed as backward, insular places needing to be escaped. But anthropologists tell us that the human species has spent more than 100,00 years living in villages of 100 to 150 people. This is where the oldest part of our brain, the limbic system, grew and adapted to become a very sophisticated instrument for reading other people’s emotions and figuring out how we might cooperate to find food, shelter and protection. By comparison, the frontal cortex, which helps us do our taxes, drive a car and download cat videos, is a very recent aftermarket addition, like a sunroof. And it is the village where almost half the world’s population still chooses to live. Finding Larkspur takes a walk through the Canadian village of the twenty-first century, observing customs and traditions that endure despite the best efforts of Twitter, Facebook and Amazon. The author looks at the buildings and organizations left over from the old rural community, why they were built in the first place and how they have adapted to the modern day. The post office, the general store, the church, the school and the service club all remain standing, but they operate quite differently than they did for our ancestors. Drawing from his experience working in rural communities across Canada and in other countries, Needles reveals how a national conversation may be driven by urban voices but the national character is often very much a product of its small towns and back roads.

Genres: Canada

176 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2024

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your literary guide to what's going on after you leave the "cute" little Ontario town.

[Ali Ives · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one has their finger to the pulse of rural Ontario quite like Dan Needles. Part memoir, part cultural examination, Finding Larkspur takes a look at life in the southern Ontarian countryside - how it is, how it was, how it's changed - and offers insight into an aspect of Canadian life that is so often derided by media, dismissed by politicians, and misunderstood by city folk. Told with his signature humour and wit, the book explores everything from the culture clash city people experience moving into rural areas, and the mind-boggling and often incomprehensible network of concession roads within townships, to the importance of the Farm Dog, and the evolution of small town politics.
As was always the case with his series of Wingfield Farm stage plays, Dan Needles paints a portrait of rural life that is deeply relatable to someone like me, born and raised and still residing in the countryside he's describing. I laughed often while reading, usually because I so easily recognized the truths he was highlighting, whether it was the slow degradation of landlines, the attitude of farmers, or the way every rural homestead now seems to have multiple addresses, rendering visitors' attempts at finding you with Google Maps futile.
All in all, it was an excellent and enjoyable read from a master of good humour. Do I agree with every single opinion Dan Needles puts down on page? Not really. But in that he still proves correct, for as he says at the beginning of Finding Larkspur: country folk disagree on just about everything, except their opinions on the Big City. :)

[Russell Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the small villages of Ontario, having visited Eastern Ontario many times, and each time, I discover a new village or a delight in one I’ve visited before. While visiting Almonte (a place so quaint that over twenty-five Hallmark movies have been filmed there,) I was browsing the local bookseller and found Dan Needles’s Finding Larkspur. His subtitle, “A Return to Village Life,” immediately caught my attention. The cover promised “an insightful and laugh-out loud tour of rural living,” and the back cover blurb said the book “takes a walk through the village of the twenty-first century, observing customs, traditions and institutions.” What more could a lover of small Canadian villages want? Apparently more. A lot more. Needles is a fine writer and this series of essays are refined from columns he has written for various magazines and new material he has created. His observations are indeed insightful, and his opinions reflect not only his thirty years as a farmer but also his work and travels throughout the world. His stories are best when they are personal, rather than global. But, aye, here’s the rub (or rubs, actually): the book is almost entirely about farming. There is very little said about the folks who live in these little villages, almost nothing about their daily lives, customs, and practices. If I’d wanted to read about farming, I’d expect books I perused to say they are about farming. And that “laugh-out-loud” tour? I barely emitted a titter. I admit Needles has a way with words and oftentimes says things that are amusing, but there was no danger of my awakening the household with my raucous laugh. I will say I loved the essay on the farm dog, for the author does a very amusing take on dog personification. But other than that, I found myself skipping over whole sections on farm machinery, Canadian politics, world views, and the like. It’s fair to say that I was extremely disappointed with this book.

[Paul Sutter]

Dan Needles is certainly a national treasure when it comes to writing about life in general as it relates to the world around us. He has won many literary awards, and is a Member of the Order of Canada. His books resonate with people of all ages, as people sometimes sees a hint of themselves in his works.
FINDING LARKSPUR A RETURN TO VILLAGE LIFE, continues that tradition with a short, but poignant look at the joy of living in a rural setting. It certainly is a radical change from urban life, a tranquil setting where one is free from the indignities of big town life, and all the issues that drive people further from the city. Throughout the pages of the book, Dan Needles covers the joys of the remote farm-style community life with all the bonuses of this tranquil existence. It is so laid-back than when you read about it through his eyes, it turns even more magical and memorable.
In the introduction he notes, “Suddenly things changed. In the past few years people have been quietly leaving the city in droves. In 2021 growth in small-town Canada outpaced the growth of cities for the first time on record.” He goes on to explain about the different attitudes and values that foster the joys of this laid-back life, and each chapter gives us another reason to appreciate it all the more.
There are challenges here as well, but not with the same hectic regularity that city dwellers face. It is the camaraderie of urban dwellers which almost makes it sound like one happy family, and Needles visits many aspects of this life with candor and great humour, which are trademarks of his world and writing. It makes one want to pack up shop in the city, and head for a life and world we can appreciate and embrace more passionately.

[Enid Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

As expected, this is very Sunshine Sketches…

I fondly recall pouring over Harrowsmith magazine (which apparently is now published out of Ancaster!!) every month when I was a teen and young adult… This has a lovely nostalgic appeal to it.

Certainly there were a few times (though none that had me laughing out loud) where I had to chuckle at something that resonated with my current circumstances - most notably the bit about Bell landlines.

Ours - which my husband refuses to give up - sucks because the wires need replacing along the entire road but there is no business case to be made for that - especially since we are at the very end of the road! - which is exactly the scenario painted here.

Read it if you live in the country and have a hankering for a little rural nostalgia. Gift it to the person in your family who couldn’t get enough of the Wingfield saga and has seen every single incarnation live on stage.

3.5 rounded up to 4

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Needles is the author of the "Wingfield Farm" series of plays starring Rod Beattie. (if you ever have the chance to see a production of any of the plays, do so!).
In "Finding Larkspur", Mr. Needles gives us insight into how he dealt with living the rural life. Even though he's not a stranger to farming and the rural community, he shows that there's always more to learn. The book also talks about the history and reasons for people leaving the city and embracing - or trying to - the life on the land.
I found this book to be very entertaining, funny and a thoughtful and insightful look at life in rural Ontarion.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Needles is a Canadian treasure. I used to teach his book Letters from Wingfield farm and have seen all the plaus staring Rod Beatty. This is a very current collection of his “farm wisdom philosophy” on a variety of current issues and positivity delivered on various topics. He has an impressive family tree and knowledge of history. He still has a humorous lens from which he writes.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of writing that mainly concern the relationship between rural and urban live in Canada. Having chosen to live and work from a small farm in Ontario more than thirty years ago, Dan Needles now reflects on how the newest remote workers are changing his landscape and way of life. Reflecting on people, change and place, these are ideas worth reading.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better known for his fictional character Walt Wingfield in Letters from Wingfield Farm, Dan reflects on his own life in rural Ontario, including unique challenges of farm life and the characters anyone living in this area has probably met. This is an entertaining book written by a man with one foot on the farm and the other in the world of theatre.

[Diana Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have seen Dan Needles do his performances and while they are similar to prairie experience, they are not the same. When I read this book, I realized how much of Ontario history I don't know, particularly of farmers. I found it compelling as I felt the need to understand this part of Canadiana, plus he is an entertaining writer.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous look at small town Ontario and farming. Perfect bedtime reading. Interesting look at the author's connection to the Massey family and his own unique childhood. I snorted over his descriptions of Vincent Massey.

[Deb Mohr · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Dan Needles accents the humorous side of country living, although this set of stories shows more of his love of his home area, and is lighter on the comedic characters. An enjoyable read. #1446

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humourous, evocative and a joy to read. Thank you Dan Needles.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read and good perspective of living in the country in the present day.

[Christa (haines) Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a good read with Dan Needles. Also great to know that other rural areas of Ontario use landmarks the way my family does to provide directions. There were some great stories and quotes as well.

[Ash]

I'm not going to review this until I finish interviewing the author

[Ieva Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed, having read The Owl Pen by Kenneth McNeil Wells years ago. There's too much about his ancestors and relatives and not enough about farming.