As I was running errands in town today, I noticed an unexpected sign in the window on a long-time vacant store front, announcing that the framing shop that once was our down-the-hall neighbors will be "coming soon."
I felt a brief moment of sadness at the recognition that it was symbolic of the end of an era.
It is "the end of an era" in the sense that the last of the shops that were once located in the small shopping arcade where the Red Dragonfly Gallery was once located has now moved out and the arcade is now partially vacant or occupied by people we don't know.
I suppose it is a testament to the passage of time and to the fact that things are constantly changing.
It's odd to think that it is only been a little over three years since we closed down the gallery and already everybody we knew and were pretty close friends with — or at least business associates with — have gone.
I'm still friends with the man who owned the record store that was the first to go after his shop was purchased by a guitar dealer from Seattle...
Next, our immediate next door neighbor who had a candle and incense shop she succumbed to cancer after a long struggle and even though there were several people who seemed interested in keeping her shop going it eventually ended up closing.
And now I have learned that the two guys who had the framing shop and poster Gallery at the end of the hallway they are moving to a new location.
In a sense, the change is also reflective of our little town in general. I first came here some 16 years ago and the atmosphere was very different at that point. But like many small quirky artsy, musician and writers' venues we've gone through a period of ongoing "gentrification," and it's a from of gentrification that has gradually replaced the people that made it a quirky artist town with wealthy retirees from other parts of the country.
The sad thing is that the people who used to live and work here, and who gave the town its weird character, can actually no longer afford to live here because rents and real estate have gotten so pricey that nobody with the sort of income the majority of artists and creatives earn can actually remain here (financially) anymore and so they have moved away.
A few of the long-term residents such as myself who are still hanging on here... well, we keep shaking our heads and saying "you know, this just isn't what it used to be" and the whole vibe has become a lot more "generic."
Of course this town is not the only one that has suffered a similar fate... it seems to be part of the natural life cycle of "cool and interesting places" that they gradually lose their color as more and more people move in, but really don't want to be involved in the local scene, they just want to experience it.
Sadly, life doesn't work like that... and so, I wistfully observe "the end of an era," and feel grateful that I did get to be part of it!
Thanks for stopping by, and do please leave a comment if you feel so inspired!
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