By Bonnie J. Bardos 

 

At the beginning of day,
rubythroat and trill of a tree frog.
Cicadas blade songs of immortality
as on an ancient Chinese scroll,
and sun through fog
burns a promise of warmth.
Steps on a path are straight
as we angle into light, hearing
leaf-whisper of
verses to be hymned…

~ Susan Terris, excerpt from “Matin and Vesper”

 

On a tender May morning, a whisper of soft rain sings down through sun, light as air. Hoping to catch a rainbow, I lean out over the front porch rail to look up toward the blue day that sings rain. A gentle shower is most welcome, since we’ve had a run of beautiful dry spring weather here in Saluda—one of our sweetest springs in memory. The good weather gave me time to work full blast, covered in dirt and sweat in the gardens all day.

Every time I thought I’d call it quits, something else called me: do it now, while you can, do it before it’s 90 degrees and humid! Put those stepping stones in, move that trellis, prune those bushes, pull those vines, divide those irises. Haul mulch! Work! (I wish that little voice would hush.)

Dear Reader, do you name your gardens too? In this yard, there’s “Pooh’s Garden,” the “Secret Garden,” the front strip is “Rita’s Garden” and so on. When I put a beehive in the back garden, it could very well become the “Bee Careful” garden. (I hope they remember it’s all the Peaceable Kingdom.)

While pitchforking compost and leaf mulch piles, I encountered earthworms the size of extraterrestrial beings, almost mistaking them for baby snakes. Delighted to see them, I kept excavating out shovelfuls of compost, discovering a missing measuring cup, shiny and intact. When tossing out an old bag of flour to the compost bin, I accidently tossed the cup too. Shaking my head at myself, I covered the little wiggling friends with cool damp earth, and with cup in hand, toted it back victoriously to the house. (Makes you wonder, what else might be in there?)

​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 are welcome; donations are accepted.

 

Saluda Tailgate Market is open on Fridays from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the city parking lot off Main Street. Offerings include local honey, produce, delicious baked goodies, plants, and much more! Plus, it’s a town social event—you can’t leave without friendly smiles and lots of hugs. Many Saluda businesses stay open later on Friday, so you can stop by after tailgate marketing.

Saluda Community Land Trust’s “Walks in the Woods” 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 or contact SCLT at 828-749-1560 or visit www.saludasclt.org.

 

Saluda branch of Tree City USA meets at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday each month at  Saluda Library.

A tour of Saluda homes and silent auction to help raise funds for the Saluda Depot will be on June 6. If you’d like to help preserve the historic Saluda Depot, you can send donations or pledges (tax deductible!) to Saluda Historic Depot, PO Box 990, Saluda, NC 28773 or email savesaludadepot@gmail.com.

 

It’s not too late to purchase a paver for Pace Park located in the alley beside M.A. Pace Store. Drop off applications/payment at City Hall or mail to City of Saluda, 6 Main Street, Saluda, NC 28773. Proceeds go toward building public restrooms. For information, contact Catherine Ross at 828-749-3534 or carnc@charter.net.

 

Happy May birthday to Amy Copeland, Corinne Gerwe, Chris Anderson, Mark Jackson, Cary Pace, Lisa Hipp, Trevor Young, Jemme Latell, Paul Marion, Jesse Thomas, Margaret Sease, Elizabeth Baldwin, Chad Baldwin, Lynn Cass and Thelma Jones.

 

Thank you dear readers, for reading this column. It’s always a pleasure hearing from you, getting your hugs, calls, emails, and notes. It’s always my goal to make you feel like you’re having a front porch visit, enjoying a cool glass of tea, birds, flowers and life in a small town called Saluda. You can contact me at bbardos@gmail.com, call 749-1153, visit bonniebardos.com for more writing and art, or find me on Facebook.