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SALUDA MUSINGS
I hate to admit it but until the last few years, I had managed to get through most of my life without understanding and/or appreciating the art of poetry. While an avid reader of prose lo these many years, I never could extend myself enough to search and locate the essence and rhythm of good poems.
Then I fell under the spell of Garrison Keillor of “Prairie Home Companion” fame. He is also a lover of poetry and celebrates it daily on his “Writer’s Almanac”. It always includes a poem as well as information about famous people and events that may have happened in history that day.
A few days ago this poem appeared in the Almanac:
Winter Is the Best Time
by David Budbill
to find out who you are.
Quiet, contemplation time,
away from the rushing world,
cold time, dark time, holed-up
to see that inner landscape,
that place hidden and within.
I like this poem because in just a few lines it summarizes what we generally do when a new year starts and what we hope to learn and perhaps change about ourselves. Of course, this winter has not contained much “cold time, dark time, holed-up pulled-in time and space” as it has been unusually warm so far. Nevertheless I suspect that many of us are quietly working to find more “quiet, contemplation time”. If you are, it is my hope that your search for that “inner landscape” is a successful one.
Keillor even offers some help for our journey:
“Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”
I might also add these words from Dr. Seuss:
“Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don’t matter
and those who matter don’t mind.”
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Monday and Tuesday Nights through the Winter
It’s evolving. It’s casual. It’s impromptu and it’s fun. Play one of ours or bring your own. Whether you are a scrabble aficionado or a chess master or just looking for entertainment and camaraderie we will have a fire in the wood stove, something hearty in the soup pot, weekly slider specials, oysters on the half shell, and beer and wine specials. PLEASE NOTE- WE ARE CLOSED FOR DINNER ONLY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7 FOR A PRIVATE EVENT.
STORIES OF ROMANCE
During our thirteen years in business, we have witnessed more than a few first dates, blind dates, match making attempts, and at least two marriage proposals. Given the stories we already know, we thought it would be fun to hear from some of you who might have slipped under the romance radar.
If you would like to share your story of romance at the Purple Onion, email us at
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and we will include them on our website for Valentine’s Day. Complimentary dinner for two will be awarded to the best story chosen by a panel of experts on romance.
VALENTINE’S DAY
Since Valentine’s Day falls on a Tuesday we will be extending the celebration to include the weekend of February 10 – 11. Check out our website for specials that week. We can assure you we will have plenty of champagne, oysters and chocolate.
LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR
a voice that harkens back to the Appalachian roots from which she was born, and shores up on the edgesof contemporary southern rock, country, blues, and jazz
singer with guitar pyrotechnics, original songwriting
Ray LaMontagne-meets-Rod Stewart vocal stylings
their sound is a seamless blend of roots, country and pure mountain soul
fabulous bluegrass as thisHendersonville-based band returns
of David Wilcox or Pierce Pettis.”
her many fans here know to expect a musical, magical evening under her spell
“With insight and good humor, he has taken these life experiences and distilled them into old fashioned story songs brimming with wit and compassion.” –New York Times
original material as well as choice covers ranging from Graham Parsons and Willie Nelson
to The Beatles and The Ramones
Saluda Musings
I know that we should be (and hopefully are) counting our blessings in gratitude as 2011 ends even though we did not like a lot of what happened to us or the world around us. 2012 will certainly be similar to last year in that it will no doubt contain some happiness, contentment, uncertainty and, yes, some suffering where we will learn more about ourselves and grow in the process.
It should be an especially interesting (and periodically depressing) year as we head into the 2012 Presidential election. I am hoping that it turns out to be less inane and over the top than the third-rate sideshow the Republican candidates and the media made available to us last year. We will just have to see.
In the meantime, recently I was sitting at a red light waiting for it to change. The car in front of me had this license plate: JESUSCEO. I was struck by the incongruity of the combination and wonder what Jesus would think about it. Then the driver became impatient and RAN THE RED LIGHT! I suspect Jesus might have wondered which part of the license plate the driver does not get.
Perhaps this quote our 15 year old granddaughter, Anna, put on her Facebook page might help us deal with the craziness in the world today. “Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” As a clergy friend of mine might say, “that preaches”.
One of the last performers at the Purple Onion in 2011 was Jimmy Landry, one of my favorite singer/songwriters. One of his songs is called “Do What You Can” and I offer one of the verses and the chorus as words of wisdom for the coming year:
“At any one moment
There's far more to be known than you know.
There's far more to be done than you'd put
On a list you'd make. Give yourself a break.
Just do what you can. Take as long as you need.
This is not a race. it's not about your speed.
It's the magic in the way you work
that makes it all worthwhile.”
If you would like to respond to me personally about any of my “musings”, I hope that you will do so at the email address below. We probably have lots we could talk about.
We at the Purple Onion hope that you have a great 2012 and look forward to seeing you often at the café.
Robert Seiler
LET THE GAMES BEGINThe Charlotte Observer says:“Barrington offers nicely crafted folk-pop along the lines |
