“At times, it feels as if the past is very near. On certain evenings, when the sun has dropped and the air is turning blue, when barn owls float above the meadow grass and a pared-down moon breaches the treeline, a mist will sometimes lift from the surface of the river. It is then that the strangeness of water becomes apparent.”

~ Olivia Laing, excerpt from “To The River”

Old-School, Merriam-Webster definition: adhering to traditional policies or practices;  i.e.: old- school coach. Or: characteristic or evocative of an earlier or original style, manner, or form; i.e.: old-school music

You know, Dear Reader, I like old-school.

Old-school buildings with tall airy windows, creaky varnished wood floors, high ceilings, radiators ticking on winter days.

Old-school music on Sunday mornings. Nowadays, the records of the past are called “vinyl.” Music buffs shop record stores, hunting for their latest vinyl fix to get the feel and imperfect sound that only the medium produces. 

I still like books. The feel and scent of a book can’t be replaced by an electronic device, methinks.

I like good old-fashioned American-grown cotton for clothing and sheets. Not with fake stuff added.

Old-school food, simple/fresh/good, nothing with 50 ingredients and unpronounceable names (sorry, Martha Stewart). People are turning more and more to “farm-to-table” experiences, which in old-school speak means what’s on your plate was just outside in the garden — or running around the pasture.

We ate like that back in the day — in fact, I remember picking apples as worms and yellow jackets fought for their share. Those apples ended up in pie, apple butter and cider. Now that’s old-school.

Well, as a dinosaur, I still call records “records,” not vinyl. (I don’t make a good hipster, I guess, and definitely remain decidedly uncool). But I’m just old-school — as the saying goes, “What goes around, comes around.”

• Saluda Welcome Table at Saluda Methodist Church is Tuesday from 5:30-6:45 p.m.

• Saluda Tail Gate Market is from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Friday.

• Top of the Grade Concerts begin at McCreery Park on Friday with the Aaron Burdett Band. Performances are 7-9 p.m. at Ella Grace Mintz Stage; rain will move concerts to the pavilion.

• Art Notes: Several Saluda artists (Stoney Lamar, Dale McEntire, Mark Gardner, Bonnie Bardos and Shane Varnadore) along with other area artists, will be featured at Upstairs Artspace, 49 S. Trade St., Tryon, with an opening reception Saturday from 6-7:30 p.m. with the artists’ talk at 5 p.m.; the show runs through Aug. 3.

“Art for Preservation” is a fundraiser for preservation of Saluda’s 1891 historic Church of the Transfiguration on the National Register of Historic Places. The event is from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday at Saluda Center, 64 Greenville St. Tickets available by contacting 828-749-9740 or jenniferbshand@gmail.com.

• Learn about Saluda Community Land Trust by visiting saludaclt.org or calling 828-749-1560. Brian Lilburn is offering swimming lessons for children at Twin Lakes starting on Monday: contact him at twinlakesswimminglessons@gmail.com. The next Walk in the Woods is Sunday, July 1, to the Missing 40 (meet at 2 p.m. Saluda library to carpool); contact Chuck Hearon for hike information at 828-817-0364 or chearon@skyrunner.net.

• Happy June Birthday to Nancy Barnett, Verne Dawson, Peggy Ellwood, Anna Jackson, Charlie Jackson, Amy Violet Ford, Terry Arrington, Julie Arrington, Susie Welsh Hearn, Jeremy Edwards, John Savage, Eleanor Morgan, Mary Lu Price, Sigi Hendrickson, Edna McKee, Lucinda Pittman, D.J. Gaskin, Susan Matthews and Lisa Duck.

• Saluda Get Well goes to Kevin Hyde, Rita Igoe, Mary Ann Asbill, Libby Archer and Cissy Thompson.

Thank you for reading this column; as ever, the goal is to make you feel like you’re enjoying small town life in a friendly mountain town called Saluda. Feel free to contact me at bbardos@gmail.com, 828-749-1153, or visit bonniebardosart.com.