It’s the middle of November, and the vultures have returned.

Hundreds of them roost high in the trees not far from my home. At around 4:30 p.m., they appear from all directions. They take rest among the many high branches.

Shortly after they have settled, a magnificent murmuring of smaller birds fly over my home en route to a resting place not far from here. I don’t know what kind they are, but I can hear them flying overhead. 

And, just an hour before the birds appeared, I was standing on my front porch when I noticed four to five deer grazing, just 100 feet down my street. Funny, I live .3 miles from downtown Tryon.

Although I have yet to encounter bears, they are roaming comfortably around this lovely little village.

As I sit sipping my glass of wine next to my fire pit, I am reminded of the sweet joy I experience, and am ever so thankful for all that surrounds me. 

Susan Ball, Tryon