Thanks

My parents are visiting their new grandson this weekend (and, incidentally, their son and daughter-in-law). Last night, we had a long and earnest discussion about the concept of the “urban village”, and what qualities Wallingford had that made it qualify for the label. Yes, it has a tree-lined residential area surrounding a small merchant core of mostly-locally-owned shops selling the basic necessities: food, clothing, medicine, building supplies and ice cream, but it wasn’t until my mother approached me earlier this evening and asked me to post a note to the Wallyhood blog for her that I really appreciated how well Wallingford captures the spirit of an urban village.

You see, last night we stopped off at Bartell’s (founded in Seattle, 1890) to pick up a toothbrush, and at some point, my mother lost her scarf. Not an heirloom or huge sentimental value, but a nice, big warm scarf she’d had for some time and that she’d carried with her from Connecticut to visit her grandson (and, incidentally, her son and daughter-in-law).

But when we returned to Bartell’s several hours later, we found that someone had picked it up and hung it carefully on the arm of the bench just outside, to make sure it didn’t get dirty.

That, to me, is a village. Folks just looking out for each other in small ways.

So, to whomever found my mother’s scarf, picked it up and carefully set it where we would find it, thank you. And to my fellow villagers, thank you.