“It is raining and you can hear the pattern of the drops. You can hear it with your ears, or you can hear it out of that deep silence. If you hear it with complete silence of the mind, then the beauty of it is such that cannot be put into words or onto canvas, because that beauty is something beyond self-expression.”

– Jiddu Krishnamurti 

I wanted to hug the garbage men this morning: a bear hug, at that.

However, unsuspecting passerby might have wondered about the sanity of a woman in a pink bathrobe and L.L. Bean slippers, tugging a wrinkly one-eyed dog on a red leash, both madly chasing after the lumbering garbage truck hollering, “Stop! Stop! Come back, hug time!”

Over the past week, I’d been piling endless black garbage bags stuffed to the gills with wet debris – old joint compound buckets and moldy wood handles, – from a water-logged basement and crawlspace to the back curb. Household trash. Blue bags for recycling. A ruined bright-orange outdoor power cord I’d whacked with the hedge trimmers. Guilt-ridden, I’d gone back later to the mountains of bags to retrieve that cord — thinking I’d salvage it by reconnecting the wires and covering it with electrical tape.

Someone else beat me to it; despite gingerly patting down bags, peering in bags and under bags, it disappeared. I was glad to see the unknown fellow scavenger salvaged old bolt-cutter handles too. Unfortunately, pack rat that I am, I’m having to draw the line somewhere at my own salvaging. Those blessed garbage men showed up early on, soaked bags of disgusting trash disappeared — despite the onslaught of endless rain, mush, and bloodthirsty hordes of mosquitoes. It’s time to salute those who are out there in the elements, picking up after the rest of us.

Saluda Tailgate Market starts at 4:30 p.m. Fridays at the city parking lot off Main Street; many Saluda businesses are open later on Friday.

Saluda Welcome Table is every Tuesday from 5:30 -7 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Saluda United Methodist Church. All welcome for dinner; donations accepted.

Saluda Community Land Trust (SCLT) will host another reopening celebration of Wilkes’ Twin Lakes on Aug. 31 (raindate Sept. 7) from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Catch a shuttle ride from Saluda Fire Department, and enjoy swimming, food and friendly folks.