“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”

– Anne Lamott,
Traveling Mercies 

Spring and winter continue to do a dance here in the mountains, one day sweet spring breezes tickle your nose, the next day you’re hauling out long johns and heavy coats again.

On one of those balmy days, it was a bit of gardening time with a 4-foot Japanese maple I’d rooted and nurtured in a large, heavy Italian terra-cotta pot. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed sharing seedlings from the mature tree with others who admired its graceful drape over the fishpond. It was past time for the tree to be planted, so that meant working the whole tree and root ball out of the pot, into a heavy-duty garbage bag, and hauling it to a friend’s garden where it will thrive.

Sharing plants is symbolic that life goes on: making this world a better place, as does gardening and digging in the good earth. My garden includes a plethora of gifts from others: some of my grandmother’s irises, roses and yucca; plants from my mother’s yard, plants from Genell, Nancy, Sheila, Amber, Jim, Bill, Cheryl, Holly, Jo, Charlie, Julie, Dottie and many, many more. You can pay top dollar for a garden plant, but there’s nothing better than those treasures someone gave you: something they’d shared gladly and had enjoyed. Just call it the garden of love.

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

The Robinson Community Garden (sponsored by Saluda Community Land Trust) on Henderson Street is ready for gardeners: additional sign-ups are March 13 and April 10. For information, contact Dave and Marilyn Prudhomme at 828-749-9172 or e-mail dclp@tds.net. Saluda gardener Walter Hoover will help those who need practical guidance at Robinson Garden; he can be contacted at 828-749-5846. You can contact SCLT at 828-749-1560 or visit their website at www.saludaclt.org

Artists: if you’d like to participate in the 11th Saluda Art Festival on May 17, the deadline to enter is March 15. For information, contact Susie Welsh at 828-749-3900, sswelsh@tds.net or Catherine Ross at 828-749-3534, carnc@charter.net.

Thompson’s Store Mardi Gras Masquerade party is March 1 with music, dinner and dancing upstairs in the Boarding House venue. Contact Judy Ward for details at 828-749-2321.

Happy February birthday to Wylie Rauschenbach, Wesley Pace, Biddie Dawson, Amy Beeson, Ginny Jones, Jenna Igoe, Suzanne Igoe, Pam Thompson, Catherine Raymond, Eva McCray, Ellen Rogers and Margaret Miller.

Get well hugs go to Betty Graham.

Garden notes: Late February is a great time to turn your compost heap or start one if you haven’t already — it’s simple and easy. Bluebird houses need to be clean and ready: along side open fields are good locations to attract the little guys. I watched one flit over a field yesterday, flashes of bright blue lift the spirits.

 

Thank you dear readers, for reading this column. As ever, the goal is to make you feel like you’re enjoying a cup of hot tea and small town life in a friendly little mountain town called Saluda.

You can contact me at bbardos@gmail.com; or 828-749-1153, visit my website at bonniebardos.com for more writing and art or find me on Facebook.