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Saluda News & Notations

…They are in my landscape

errors of colors and scents

yet always

always I love

what incessantly

changes.

 

As a golden ball

she runs before me:

approached again and again,

my beloved

Earth. 

~ Tymoteusz Karpowicz, “Love” (translated by Czelslaw Milosz) 

A sunny January afternoon found me out in the garden checking on pansies, finally lifting their faces up after being blanketed by snow. 

Resolute, those tough little flowers just keep on goin – never failing to bring gladness to the heart. 

As I fiddle with pansies here and there, picking frost-bitten leaves from purple flowering kale, John and Kathy Tyrell walk by, and pause for a visit. It feels good – seeing friends, talking, with the sun warming our faces in the cool air. 

The conversation ranges from this to that…muscle cars, Bryon Katie, kindness, digging in the garden without gloves, doing the right thing, the side-effects of noise pollution – but the main thing I leave with is how we’re on the same page about thoughtfulness toward others. Yet, some folks never learn this in their life. We mull over the whys of that: if you’re born that way, taught it, can evolve to learn it and why it should be easy. 

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that receives it,” said Edith Wharton. It costs nothing to be thoughtful while we’re here on this plane – but pays everything.  Making coffee for someone. Leaving a bouquet or treat for another to find, or a book they’ll love. Letting another person know if you can’t make it on time. Being thankful. Taking time to visit, to enjoy life in a community on a January afternoon instead of being in a hurry. Sending a note. Looking and actually seeing. 

Living with empathy. Finding change for someone in the check-out lane. Listening, instead of having the last word every time. Returning shopping carts. Not tossing trash out the car window. Putting bird seed out on freezing days. Giving something you love to someone else who loves it too. Live to give. 

 

Saluda Winter Market is every other Saturday through March at Saluda Center from 9-12, featuring local vendors with fresh produce, baked goods, and more. 

Saluda Historic Depot is closed January and February. 

Saluda Visitor Center winter hours are 12-3 weekdays and 11-4 p.m. on weekends.

Community potluck/bingo night is January 31, 6 p.m. at Saluda Center; bring a side dish to share. 

Saluda Community Land Trust (SCLT) is busy year-round with land  conservation, trails and projects: visit saludaclt.org or call 828-749-1560 to learn more.  For more information on hikes or volunteering for trail-clearing, contact Chuck Hearon at (828) 817-0364 or chearon1942@gmail.com

 

Saluda Pop-Up Pantry is Tuesday from 1-6 at Saluda Presbyterian Church, 54 Carolina Avenue (behind Saluda Library). Masks/safety precautions taken. Paper products, children’s jackets, gloves, men’s hats, grooming products such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc., socks, and coats are needed to help restock. To volunteer, call Saluda Church of the Transfiguration, 828-749-9740. You can mail tax-deductible donations to Saluda Pop-Up Pantry, P.O. Box 428, Saluda, NC 28773 or donate online at www.saludapantrycom   

 

Happy January Birthday to Brandy Bradley, Carolyn Ashburn, Scott Kinard, Donna Bond, Greer Eargle, Wyatt Alan Pace, Irma Anderson, Paul Aaybe, Phyllis Arrington, Kenneth Justus, Cheryl Harbin, Avery Lena Mintz, Connie Scicluna, Ann Dudley, Charles Conner, Kristin Mode, Susan Parke, Rodney Gibson, Kristen Mode, Jan Daugherty, and Frank McNutt. Add your birthday to the list! 

 

Feel free to contact me at bbardos@gmail.com, (828) 817-6765, P.O. Box 331, Saluda, NC 28773, Facebook, or visit bonniebardos.com