St. Louis is perfectly splendid. Visiting friends there was terrific, as were the many delicious meals I ate in favorite old haunts and new ones that dazzle. Part of the time I stayed with dear friend Penny, who owns a comfortable condo in suburban St. Louis. It's a "normal" place, one you can find your way around in because it's built like most other homes. You know, the kitchen in the kitchen, next to the dining room. Bedrooms upstairs.
Then part of the time I stayed with another good friend, Mary Sprague, who lives and works in her multi-floor 4,000 sq ft loft in downtown St. Louis. Living quarters on one floor, the studio above. Guests sleep in a desk that folds out to a bed in the studio.
Although her building is only three stories, it's industrial enough to be a reasonable facsimile of SoHo. I particularly liked riding on the industrial elevator. Even though the building isn't tall, there's a lot of privacy because the neighborhood was once a manufacturing and display sort of place, and the surrounding buildings aren't very tall. So unless you don't like light, it's fun to keep the shades up all the time. I felt quite cosmopolitan changing clothes in full view of...the sky.
Mary's studio is in a part of north St. Louis that is still recovering from the devastation wreaked upon the inner city since the end of World War II. I wouldn't necessarily want to cruise the streets there at night, but in the last few years a number of restaurants and night clubs have opened near her building. I wish I could describe how much fun it was to sleep in a working studio. The images are wonderful. And I have a real crush on turpentine's aroma.
Here are two views of the walls I studied before going to sleep:
I've enjoyed my time on the road by myself, but I must say that spending almost a week with good friends was quite a special treat.
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