“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget… another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ~
Arundhati Roy 

 

August swirls those dusty late-summer skirts, giving us a glimpse of changing days ahead: a drifting leaf, quicker shadows, a feel. Me, I wear myself out every day: feeling like the little red hen who did it all. 

 

Dear Reader: how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Geez, it’s hard to chew that leathery skin…but bite by bite, I sort, sift the stories of this life. Furniture, clothes, photo albums, stuff. More stuff. Good stuff. What’s THAT? Stuff. Dust bunnies leap out of places newly exposed to light. Move something, there’s one laying in wait…with cousins in the wings. 

 

I keep an eye out for potential nesting places. Moving boxes get contributed (thank you!). Things go out. I haul bags and boxes of donations here, there. I give treasures to those I love. Things get piled in ‘for sale’ hills. Sweat rolls, and muscles hurt. One bite at a time. One bite. I can do this. 

 

My infamous pink velvet thrift-shop settee departs on a Sunday afternoon and becomes a tale of Saluda cop/stalled diesel truck in the street, and friends holding up each other on a hot day, waiting for a tow truck. (No good deed goes unpunished, but everybody hangs in there and laughs.)

 

Life’s like that: roadblocks happen, things fall apart or break down at the wrong moment. But there you are, picked up in this life by friends and good folks who bring a smile and a helping hand. We’re in this together. Bite by bite. 

Saluda Tailgate Market is Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the city’s parking lot on West Main Street.

 

Learn more about Saluda Community Land Trust (SCLT) by visiting saludaclt.org or calling 828-749-1560. For information on helping clear trails (next trail-clearing day is August 21 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) or “Walks in the Woods”, contact “Trail Boss” Chuck Hearon at (828) 817-0364 or chearon@skyrunner.net. The next walk is August 18 to the Missing 40. Meet at Saluda Library’s parking lot at 2:00 p.m. to carpool. 

 

Every Tuesday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., there’s a community pop-up food pantry at the Apple Mill, 1345 Ozone Drive (across from BP station). 

 

Saluda Historic Depot is open Tuesday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mark your calendar for Train Tales on August 16, 7:00 p.m. with Lucas Safrat.

 

SLIP (Saluda Living in Place) and Dimple Joshi, PA, with Saluda Family Medicine will present “CBD Oil: What’s the Hype?” at Saluda Center, August 21, 10:00 a.m.   

 

Saluda Community Table is every Thursday 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Saluda Center.

Saluda School will have a drop-in “meet the teachers” on Thursday, August 22, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Don’t forget to keep collecting those specially-marked hot pink box tops for the book program! 

 

Happy August Birthday to  B.J. Kent, Linda Kaye Haynes, Paul Stoney, Jen Pace, Zack Pace, Don Mintz, Caroline Tindal, Nora Ward, Samantha Ward, Reeda Ward, Natalie  Aabye, Verlie Murphy, Peter Eisenbrown, Coleman Bradley, Ryan Bradley, Libby Archer, Rodney Thompson, Cathy Jackson, Bill Jameson, and Tayloe Francisco.  Add your birthday to the list—I won’t spill the beans on your age unless you’re under 2 or over 100! 

 

Feel free to contact me at bbardos@gmail.com, (828) 749-1153, or visit bonniebardosart.com