…What beauty in this the darkest music

over which you can hear the lightest music of human

behavior, the tender connection between men and galaxies.

So I sit on the edge, wagging my feet above

the abyss. Tonight the moon will be in my lap.

This is my job, to study the universe

from my bridge… 

~ Jim Harrison,

excerpt from “Bridge”

Here it is August. Summer’s bright tomatoes hang from vines, hummingbirds have a nest close by the old front porch. I haven’t found it this year, but I sure will find the yellow jacket nests when I mow. They’re lurking, waiting for unsuspecting ankles.

Summer heat not only makes yellow jackets grumpy, it gets me too. I read an article in the Bulletin that Saluda is considering an idea in conjunction with Thermal Belt Outreach to help some limited income folks with water bills. Water rates are astronomical, so I’d say why not reduce them for everybody to down-to-earth rates that real people can actually pay? Make water gluttons pay more, and give some love to those of us who try to conserve water usage.

To add insult to injury as the old saying goes, homeowners within city limits will be hit with a whopping fee tacked on to property taxes if they don’t cut bushes, vines, tree branches, etc. along property lines to city guidelines. If they don’t, a city-hired contractor will do the hacking instead and property owners get billed.

Now wait a minute, I think to myself: what if Homeowner A has one measly vine out of place? How about Homeowner B over there who has $6,000 worth of renegade branches, wild growth and more? They’re both being penalized the same amount. Most of all, why isn’t the city maintaining streets like they do when Coon Dog day comes around? Or at least a bit of trimming near stop signs. Personally, I like a few vines and trees along streets that have charm and a lack of country club perfection. That fits Saluda to a T.

Every few years Duke Energy’s hired thugs chainsaw the hell out of every poor tree anyway. DOT has been lax this summer on their road upkeep—maybe there’s more of a happy medium somewhere along the ole property lines. Let’s face it: yellow jackets have nothing on my grumpiness about all this. For now, it’s being caught between a rock and a hard place, yellow jackets zooming in, nowhere to hide. Somebody help!

Saluda Tailgate Market is open on Fridays from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the city parking lot off Main Street.

Saluda Welcome Table is every Tuesday. Dinner is served from 5:30-7 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Saluda United Methodist Church. All are welcome; donations accepted.

Saluda Community Land Trust (SCLT) benefits from your donations or time as a volunteer for their many community projects. Community swim days continue on Wednesdays at Twin Lakes. “Walks in the Woods” are on the first and third Sundays each month. The next walk is August 7 to Big Bradley falls; carpool from Saluda Library at 2 p.m. For more information, contact SCLT at 828-749-1560 or visit www.saludasclt.org.

Saluda Train Tales are held at Saluda Historic Depot (HistoricSaluda.org) on the third Friday each month through October. The next one is August 19, 7 p.m. Charlene Pace and Greaton Sellers will talk about Saluda’s boarding houses, hotels and inns from the past. The Depot is open Thursday through Sunday, noon-4 p.m.

The next Top of the Grade concert at McCreery Park features Bob Sinclair & the Big Deals on August 12 from 7-9 p.m. There will be a Mainline Sunday concert at the Ella Grace Mintz stage at the park featuring “One Leg Up” from 4-6 p.m. on August 7. This benefits the “Save Saluda Streetscape” project.

Social Singles potluck (singles over 40) is August 11 at 6 p.m.

Saluda Sympathy goes to Jane Thompson and family for the loss of Milton Thompson recently.

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, and Ryan Bradley.

Thank you, dear readers for reading this column! It’s always my goal to make you feel like you’re having a front porch visit, enjoying a summer-sweet pace of life in a small town called Saluda. If you have something of note or a birthday to add to the list, feel free to contact me at bbardos@gmail.com or call 749-1153. You may also visit my website at bonniebardosart.com or find me on Facebook.