“There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet…”

~ Annie Dillard

Fall comes gently into our little mountain town — goldenrod, yellow vines, and acorns along a path, as a blue jay’s rusty-hinge voice rises over shaded woods.

White and lavender asters bloom, tangle and twine of wild sweet pea and morning glory.

A rotund ground hog stands sentinel at the side of the winding road, munching his lavish green buffet before cold weather comes.

I warn Mr. Chubby Cheeks to beware of cars. Like him, I’m hanging on to the warmth and green.

A Saluda Sunday morning finds the brunch crowd enjoying blue skies down at our local bakery’s outside tables. Amid greetings and hugs, my friend Holly and I settle in with cups of steaming coffee as we wait, surrounded by bikers, flowers overhead, dogs and good sniffs of things baking.

Baby June, the little bulldog, hangs out near us, looking for her fan club, as her best friend Fred-from-Tryon-via-Dayton shares Baby June stories and about his dear-departed wife, June. 

There’s adorable Pixie and Raiden with their parents and grandparents, joining a table full of friends. There’s Alan and Harriet, bright-smiled Olivia. And Tim with his new old weathered-blue truck, talking about dogs and goat feed.

Does it get any better than this, a good life, this sweet passage in this moment?

A soft breeze lifts over us all, and there’s early fall magic on a late Sunday morning.   

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

• Saluda Welcome Table is every Tuesday: dinner is served from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Saluda United Methodist Church. All are welcome; donations accepted. There will not be a Welcome Table this upcoming Tuesday, but it will be back the following week.

• Art Trek weekend is this Saturday and Sunday, with a preview party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday evening at Upstairs Artspace in Tryon. Saluda artists participating are Dale McEntire, Kristin Mode, Alexia Timberlake, Laura Polanco and Bonnie Bardos. Artist studios will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Brochures/maps are available at the gallery and sponsor locations in each town. Artwork by all 32 artists will be on display at the Upstairs gallery for two weeks; a closing reception with silent auction concludes the event at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 12.

• Saluda Community Land Trust’s next Walk in the Woods will be Sunday, Oct. 7, to Old Cove Road; meet at Saluda Library parking lot at 2 p.m. for carpool. Contact Chuck Hearon for hike information at 828-817-0364 or chearon@skyrunner.net. More good news — SCLT has obtained the old Sullivan Temple site, a church founded by famed African-American healer Madame Phoebia Cheek Sullivan (1855-1956) who is buried at Mountain Page cemetery. You can reach SCLT at 828-749-1560 or saludasclt.org. 

• Happy September Birthday to Wayne Thompson, Courtney Hoots, Merci Weitzen, Dale McEntire, Joni Rauschenbach, Sonya Monts, Linda Kaye Hayes, Carol Kenfield, Debbie Fisher, Leslie Jespersen, Linda Mintz, Sheila Billeter, Cary Pace, Ross Arrington, Hop Foster, Chuck Hearon, Alexia Timberlake, Jason Justus, Beth Carson, Clark Thompson, Nicholas Edwards, Cindy Tuttle and Don Clapp. Add your birthday to the list — it’s a promise that no ages will be mentioned unless you’re under 2 or over 100!

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.