villager

This swell spot is in a nearby village, just a "stones throw" away from me. We have smallish villages all neighboring one another without actually running into one another. Some villages are planned a little bit more carefully and can accomodate parking along with pedestrians. There are shops, dentists, bakeries, produce markets, pharmacists, hardware stores, coffee houses, a luncheonette or two, a florist and then if one is lucky, a clothier and even a second hand or consignment shop.

Growing up, I have the fondest memories of riding my bike to our village in Louisville, Kentucky. "St.Matthews." There was a fabric store that I loved to go to, the smell of the fabric dyes was so strong, I can remember my eyes burning and loving seeing all the new seasonal prints. I would plan my trip to "Woolworths" carefully. My Mother said one can always find something one needs in our village. We had "Chism's Hardware" and then above "Nanz and Kraft" florist, was my art teacher, Marie-Louise Schrodt. On the corner, was and still is "Top hat" liquor. The organic hippie food shop, "Rainbow Blossom" moved to a larger shop.

Mrs. Schrodt painted scenes of our village. She painted every sign, every puddle, everything as I remembered about my village, the way that it was. She was a realist, a single parent, an incredible teacher and she knew how to plan her palette and her paintings in her village studio. It was there in her studio that I heard stories of her Fashion days, she showed me her illustrations and she was very much apart of my village people. The last time I saw her, she had a showing in the building that used to be my elementary school. She had cancer and I knew it would be the last time I saw her but to me, she will always be one of my village people and I the villager.