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“…This is a crossroads we all know, a moment when you need to shed a skin. If you do, you’ll expose all those painful nerve endings and feel so raw that you’ll need to take care of yourself for a while. If you don’t, then that skin will harden around you.” 

~ Katherine May, from “Wintering”

 

For seemingly endless weeks, Dear Reader, you could say I’ve lived in an alien world—no power, water, internet, and spotty communication. The Zen proverb comes to mind: ‘chop wood, carry water.’ Another appropriate saying for these times is, if you are going through hell, keep going. 

So that’s what I’ve done, along with many others in the same boat, every day since life forever changed thanks to Hurricane Helene ramming through Western North Carolina. The night she hit, vines and branches flung wild tendrils snapping back and forth in freight-train winds. Water poured into my bedroom, into blue 5-gallon buckets, every container I could get my hands on, every towel and cloth stuffed in panes and sills, into walls, on the floor. Furniture and rugs got shoved as far back as possible, but water kept coming. None of us will forget those hours. Trees fell, banshee forces howled; humans realized how small and helpless we were under those circumstances. 

Over the next few days, chainsaws roared to life, shovels scraped mud, people hiked to Main Street to find out what was going on. There were those who stepped up to the plate: a communications center was opened in a real estate office beside the post office, guys from Canada offered free coffee and Starlink, good people fixed meals for everyone who needed one. There were grills going, restaurants helping even as they struggled to clear out water, mud, or other damage, and people hugged, shared, and shared some more. There were those who manned search crews down back roads, on mountainsides, and along rivers. 

Goodness in people has been getting our community through. Hugs, tears, kindness, help, love. For every need, there was someone willing to help. Trees on a house, roads, car, there’s someone with equipment. Need water? Food? A shelter? There’s help. Folks reverted to the old ways of communication: along a street, talking with each other—Saluda family indeed. It was days before I ever saw photos of what happened, over at a friend’s who had a generator, coffee pot, and TV. After my rain barrel ran out of water, a neighbor hauled over large containers of Crystal Springs water, right out of the pond. Dear Reader, I washed my hair in spring-cold, clear water that very afternoon—although it was meant for flushing. If your hair is clean, you feel almost human again!  

Our food pantry was flooded out and forced to move, yet volunteers stepped up and got it running—vital in these times. Everybody came together, and those who were natural leaders were at their best, manning an unwieldy ship. I saw someone on duty at 6 a.m. and going home after 6 p.m., volunteers putting in countless hours without thought to their own needs, young and old alike, working side by side. I saw our local nurse provider Lisa Reece and team at their office working non-stop without power like a MASH unit, patching the wounded, checking people, caring. 

As of today, three weeks later, I’ve just gotten internet back and celebrated when power and water returned. Every day has been full of tossing moldy canvases and art/supplies/etc., bleaching, hauling things outside or away, in between searching for a drier, safer place. My mother’s treasured German china just went to the Humane Society yesterday: three heavy boxes, may she forgive me. It’ll bring someone else joy, and help a lot of needy animals—next Tuesday the truck comes to haul off my infamous pink settee and other treasures that weren’t damaged. 

All this upheaval is like a cicada emerging from its exoskeleton, a butterfly unfolding from a chrysalis. Upheaval, storms, and uncertainty in life give new beginnings and roads ahead. I’ve missed you, my friends. 

• Saluda Sympathy goes to the family of Sigi Hendrickson, a long-time Saluda resident who was much loved by this community, her knitting and German goodies too! 
• Happy October Birthday to Cissy Thompson, Riley Thompson, Patricia Case, Gary Corn, Aaron Bradley, Amanda Anderson, Lisa Orr, Marilyn Prudhomme, Bubba Dawson, Kirby Jackson, Mary Ann Asbill, Sheila Billeter, Carol Thompson, Dean Bradley, Susan Wheeler, Brenda Craig, Becky Broadfoot, John Morgan, Bob Whitaker, Bonnie Williamson, Heather Case, Mary Scurry, James Hrynyshyn, and Jeanie Bennett. 

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