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November has come to the forest,

To the meadows where we picked the cyclamen.

The year fades with the white frost

On the brown sedge in the hazy meadows,

Where the deer tracks were black in the morning.

Ice forms in the shadows;

Disheveled maples hang over the water;

Deep gold sunlight glistens on the shrunken stream.

Somnolent trout move through pillars of brown and gold.

 

~ Kenneth Rexroth, excerpt from “Falling Leaves and Early Snow”

 

It’s a bitter rain-soaked day in the mountains, droplets cling to stark branches and plump-red berries just waiting, longing to turn to ice. The birds have been busy with those berries – bluebirds, a rosy-breasted thrush, crows on the sidelines. 

 

The chill seeps inside, winds and twists like a cat’s tail. It’s not quite Thanksgiving yet, but I head to the closet and pull the Christmas tree off the upper shelf. On a day like this, nothing will chase the gloom away better. 

 

As we know, nothing is as easy as it appears…this idea of holiday decorating becomes long and involved. Christmas lights that don’t light up, dust and more dust (and cleaning the dust), flakes of tinsel glittering from the closet to the living room – but finally, the little silver tree is lit and decorated. 

 

Those big box stores start hawking Christmas in June, but I’ve waited quite patiently up to now. Tonight, as the temperatures drop and the rain’s claws get sharper, I’ll sit and soak up that warm glow, a glass of crimson wine in hand. 

 

Saluda Winter Market is at Saluda Center, 64 Greenville Street, on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. through April., 9:00-12

 

Saluda Train Tales will be November 18, at 7 p.m. at Saluda Historic Depot. The speaker will be Kieran Roe, Executive Director of Conserving Carolina.

 

The next Saluda Community Table is November 23, 6 p.m. at Saluda Fire Department, dinner will be prepared by board members. 

 

Mountain Page Theater presents “Sound of Music” on November 26 – 27 and December 3 – 4. Salzburg Festival cuisine will be available after each show. Get more information/tickets by visiting https://mountainpage.theater/.

 

Potluck/bingo night at Saluda Center (64 Greenville Street) is November 28, 6 p.m. 

 

Saluda Visitor Center is open daily from 11 a.m. -4 p.m. 

 

Mark your calendars! Saluda Hometown Christmas returns December 9 from 6-8 p.m. There’ll be music and entertainment at McCreery Park and carols. Elf stations will be along Main Street, shops will be decorated and lit. At 8 p.m. Saluda’s churches will have an ecumenical service at the park’s Ella Grace Mintz stage. 

 

Saluda Get-Well goes to Patricia Roskens.

 

Happy November Birthday to Jared Scott, Karen Johnson, Nancy Barnett, Dawn Pearson, Dusty Jespersen, Gwen Garren, Stoney Lamar, Jim Boyle, Tom Ellwood,  Wendy McEntire, Aaron Burdett,  Jane Thompson, Candy Oakes, Bruce Hunt, James Hrynyshyn, Hannah Jane Kirby, Shirley Chamberlain, Sam Woodbery, Glenn Morgan, Trish Carey, Sa Smith, and Karen Gabriel. 

 

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