Hot summer afternoons are the perfect time to enjoy a good book – The Tryon Daily Bulletin

“Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed by the noonday.” ~ C. Day Lewis

July dawns in crisp white linens, a strawberry ice cream cone melting in her hand as she sits under a shady canopy downtown. It’s the month of sweet, purple watermelons, fresh corn, blue-green pines, sweltering hot days and dark leaves begging for rain. Farmers mow hay fields, itch and sweat under intense, Aegean-blue afternoons when thunder rumbles but no drops fall. Not yet.

Summer is coming and July reminds us that it’s hot. Cicadas sing, frogs join in. In our small town, Coon Dog Day brings an early morning 5K run, vintage cars, visitors, picnics and long evenings of square dancing. Most raccoons are smart enough to head out into the woods on this day, while the raccoon dogs howl and bark and line up on the school grounds for another year of judging.

It’s been a while since I asked you, dear reader, what books you’re reading for the summer. Please, please tell me you have a stack of books for hot summer afternoons, something that takes you to sandy beaches, mountain air, and long journeys.

As always, my pile swings from one extreme to the other. North Woods by Daniel Mason is almost finished. Poetry of Presence II was a gift from a dear friend – it stays next to my chair when I need a poem (or two). The Chef by James Patterson, How Not To Die by Michael Greger, MD, a gift from a friend who was undergoing radiation therapy at the same time; lighter reading is Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand, which I borrowed from another friend.

For some reason, when I have books waiting to be read, it’s a glorious day. A day that makes me feel rich. Instead of asking, “What’s in your wallet?” I ask, “What’s in your stack?” Ah, summer… so many books, so little time. Read on.

• Coon Dog Day is July 6th from 8am to 10pm, with the parade starting at 11am.
• The Saluda Community Table will be held on July 9th from 5:30-7:00pm at the Saluda Center. Bring your own tableware if possible.
• Saluda Art Alliance sponsors Saluda Art Strolls on the second Saturday of each month of the 2024 season. The next one will be July 13 from 4-6 p.m.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jr. will be shown at the Mountain Page Theater on the weekend of July 13-14 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are available at www.mountainpage.theater.
• The next Train Tales at the Saluda Historic Depot and Museum will be on July 19th and professional photographer Jeffery Stoner will speak about “Photography and Trains.”
• The Saluda Community Land Trust is hosting its “Walks in the Woods” on the Lazy Girl Trail on July 21. This is a one-mile hike. The trail crosses a creek and connects Esseola Drive through the woods to Laurel Drive in Saluda; no pets on this hike. Meet at 2 p.m. in the Saluda Library parking lot. For more information, call the SCLT office at (828) 749-1560 or email [email protected].
• Our heartfelt condolences go out to Cissy and Wayne Thompson and the family of Rodney Thompson.

Happy July birthdays to Debi Thomas, Rheta Foster, Nancy Weinhagen, Lisa Obermiller, Kathy Thompson, Bill Jameson, Emily Rose Ford, Jeremy Ford, Mike Cass, Nathen Honeycutt, Melissa Justus, Hunter Justus, Alyssa Justus, Lin Savage, Doug Taylor, Amanda Anderson, Gail Slaughter, Diane Ballard, Amber Grant, Kathy Hayes, Ammie Forester and Marianne Blazar.

Please contact me at [email protected](828) 817-6765, PO Box 331, Saluda, NC 28773, Facebook, or visit bonniebardos.com