“My veins bud, and I am so
full of poems, a wastebasket of black wire.
The notes outside are visible; sparrows will
line antennae like staves, the way springs were,
but the roofs are cold and the great grey river
where a liner glides, huge as a winter hill,
moves imperceptibly like the accumulating
years.”
– Derek Walcott: excerpt from “In The Village,” White Egrets.

Pearl gray brushes December skies as winter brings white feathers to kiss the earth. Inside, I find simple pleasure in a warm biscuit with ham and a late fall tomato that ripened slowly in the kitchen windowsill. That humble biscuit evoked memories of my grandmother: in her farmhouse kitchen with cabbage rose linoleum where she kept morning biscuits cached away in the stove top, ready to spread with homemade jam and fresh-churned butter for a little girl.
To this day, I think of her gnarled weathered hands, filled with tenderness, handing me that biscuit, with all the love it held: that simple thing that remains. Sometimes, it does the heart good to have a biscuit and reminder of what love is. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we need those small reminders of tender things, made with love — things that aren’t plastic or made in China.
December brings holiday cheer and activities to Saluda. Our annual Hometown Christmas on Dec. 9, 6-8 p.m. is sponsored by the hard-working Saluda Business Association. It brings to mind a simpler place and time like those biscuits do! Stores on Main Street and over the bridge downtown glow with warm light as music sweetens the night — luminaries will lead the way up Greenville Street to the Saluda Inn and Wine Cellar where artists will sell gift items, and on up to the Oaks Bed and Breakfast for warm cider and holiday cheer with Dale and Donna Petroski.
A tree lighting will be held at 7 p.m. at Veterans’ Memorial Park downtown. At 8:30 p.m., the evening wraps up with an Ecumenical Service at Saluda Presbyterian Church.
There’ll be a free Christmas concert on Dec. 4 at Saluda Mountain Jamboree at 7 p.m.
Bring the kids for the fun Children’s Workshop at Saluda Fire Department on Greenville Street; this workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Dec. 10. Thank you, Laura Fields and Mountain Life Realty for keeping this tradition going every year! Laura always has a round of willing helpers on hand, and the kids have a ball.
The first-ever Celebration Christmas Parade with everything from dogs, Santa and fire trucks is Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. This is part of the year-long Saluda 130th Birthday Celebration; Grand Marshall is our very own Celebration committee member Charlene Pace. Charlene has written books about Saluda’s history over the years. If you need to know something about Saluda, you call her or Martha Ashley — those two are in the know!
Happy December birthday to Holly and Theresa Wilkes, Perry Ellwood, Donnie Hunter, Jeff Bradley, Preston Mintz, Carolyn Morgan, Cas Haskell and Josh Lindsay. Also, a birthday hug goes out to the Purple Onion for turning 13 recently.
Thank you for reading this column; as ever, the goal is to make you, dear reader, feel like you’re enjoying a front porch visit with me and a part of Saluda and small town life (with colder weather here, we may have to move in and find a cozy spot in the house for hot tea instead.) You can contact me at bbardos@gmail.com; or 749-1153, visit my website at bonniebardos.com for more writing and art, or find me on facebook.