The Virgin is clean

My favorite writing-taking-photos-talking-on-her-mobile-knitting mamie* outside the church.

This morning she washed the virgin and cleaned up the trash around her after the marché as a mark of respect.

Although sometimes I struggle  with her thick Catalan accent, I talk with her almost daily, do I always learn something about her, the village and life in general.

*Mamies are the old women of the village usually anywhere from 70 to 90 who've lived here all their lives, lived through WWII and other upheavals, who've shared their lives with each other and exhibit a strength in handling all that life throws at them. Had I been born and raised here, never having had the education, the travel and the experiences, I too would be a mamie and probably a lot wiser than I am.