By Bonnie J. Bardos 

 

“Listen, everyone has a chance.
 Is it spring, is it morning?
Are there trees near you,
 and does your own soul need comforting?
 Quick, then – open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
 may already be drifting away. ”

~ Mary Oliver, excerpt from “Such Singing in the Wild Branches”

On a country slow-winding drive on the out-stretches of Polk County, there’s a lavender-kissed spring-green field that awakens the heart, delights the soul, brushed in watercolors over a wide vista leading up to the mountains of home.

I’d headed to Shelby for Sunday lunch at Bridges’ barbecue where there’s also homemade banana pudding, or coconut/pineapple cake (Grandma’s recipe, the friendly waitress promised, who’d made it herself) and was rolling back toward Saluda, passing a lazy herd of buffalo sprinkled over mossy hills, when a little voice whispered in my ear: “Take the back roads.”

What a beautiful place we live in, I thought. How lucky to savor green-green fields, blooming trees, old barns sagging.

Sometimes it does a body good to get off the known path and laze along back roads that wind and furl in silver ribbons over a bucolic landscape. Waterfalls of white blossoms cascade amid splashes of redbud fountains, waterfalls dancing off rocks, forsythia a gold spray of delight here and there, weathered barns, fences stretching forever. I’m sure the blood pressure dropped 10 points along that winding drive! It’s good to take time and smell the daffodils, isn’t it?

Upon getting home, I found it had been been Party Central while I was gone. River, who’d been napping on the back deck and supposedly on guard dog duty, looked completely innocent, delighted I came back.

Upstairs, I discovered a tube of lipstick and my most-important “Age Rewind” (we can wish!) make-up scattered on the floor in my room.  Jenny Wren was partying down in the guest room, hanging on curtains, hopping on the bed, jumping on pillows, and of all things, a potato bug lying in wait on the bathroom floor.

Obviously, this had been a happening place once I turned my back. The wren was let out as I warned her that party time was over. Mr. Potato Bug was unceremoniously dumped on a one-way water slide adventure to Septic Tank Water Park, and River just looked puzzled about it all. You know, that innocent “Who, me?” look, as much as a one-eyed dog can possibly muster without looking like a naughty pirate.

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

 

“Walks in the Woods” will continue through November on the first and third Sundays of the month. Meet at Saluda Library at 2 p.m. to carpool; contact Chuck Hearon at 828-749-9886 or 828-817-0364 for information. Saluda Community Land Trust (SCLT) will benefit from your donations or time as a volunteer for their many community projects. Save the date of April 22 on “Earth Day” for SCLT’s annual meeting with speaker Carlton Burke and his rescued owls. For information, contact SCLT at 828-749-1560 or visit www.saludasclt.org.

 

Come enjoy a Saluda Center potluck and bingo night, March 30 at 6 p.m. Everyone welcome; bring your favorite dish to share!

 

Mark your calendar to bring little ones to an Easter Egg hunt, Saturday, April 4 from 2-5 p.m. on the vacant lot on Irwin Street across from Memorial Park and McCreery Park. Thanks to Don Mintz.

 

Happy March Birthday to: Faye Chandler, Genell Jespersen, Charlene Pace, Valerie Mintz, Sheldon Mintz, Curtis Pace, Anita Odgen Moore, Charles Weinhagen, Kevin Kerr, Dorrie McKinnley, Catherine Ross, Jane Fox, Beverly Pickard, Monica Pace, Ken Justus,  Elizabeth Justus, Henry Bright, Arlene Klippel, Rachel Bradley, and Chris Bradley.  Please add your birthday to the list!

 

Thank you dear readers, for reading this column; I love hearing from you! Whether you live here, or just wish you were here, the goal is to make you feel welcome and right at home in our friendly little mountain town called Saluda. You can email me at bbardos@gmail.com, call 749-1153, visit bonniebardos.com for more writing and art, or find me on Facebook.

 

 

#30