NEWSLETTER

JULY, 2006

Summertime and the living is easy. But active. Not only do we have our annual Coon Dog Day this month but also this great line-up of performers:

JULY 5 – JAZZ WITH FRED WHISKIN.

JULY 6 – PATRICK FITZSIMONS. Finger-style guitar singer/songwriter makes his debut.

JULY 8 – COON DOG DAY. NO MUSIC AT THE CAFÉ. See below.

JULY 12 – JAZZ WITH THE UPTOWN JAZZ QUARTET.

JULY 13 – AMY LOFTUS. Another songbird from Nashville has discovered the café.

JULY 15 – CHICKEN-BONE. You will have a great time with their “hickabilly” sound and energy.

JULY 17 – ROBERT SEILER. Piano music to dine by. All tips go to the Children & Family Resource Center

JULY 19 – JAZZ WITH MARC YAXLEY AND FRIENDS.

JULY 20 – LAURA BLACKLEY. We love this Asheville-based singer/songwriter.

JULY 22 – MIKE WOLK. You’ll think that his piano is really walkin’ when he plays.

JULY 26 – JAZZ WITH RUSS WILSON.

JULY 27 – JEFF O’KELLEY. From Florida, this singer/songwriter’s style has been compared to James Taylor.

JULY 29 – FRONT PORCH KINGS. We welcome this duo from South Carolina for the first time.

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If you have never experienced Coon Dog Day, you owe it to yourself to be here this Saturday. Arrive in time for the parade which is supposed to start at 11and stay for the coon dog judging and the music all over town including a street dance in the evening. To make sure that you have sufficient energy to stand the pace, you can either patronize our wonderful local cafes and/or graze from a selection of vendors selling food that is guiltily tasty but probably has a negative effect on your longevity.

We year-round Saludans notice a distinct increase in the pace of life at this time of year as those of you who are traveling tend to want to cram as much activity into each day as your bodies and wallets can absorb. I know that is what we do when we travel. We hope that part of your enjoyment of being in Saluda is the time that we take to make things just right for you. It is one of the things that makes Saluda such a wonderful place.

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I presume that all of us have a vision of what a “perfect life” might be. Whenever I think about it, I have discovered that I seem to feel closest to a “perfect life” whenever I most deeply understand and accept that life is never perfect.

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That being said, our family had at least a brief slice of an extremely “good life” in June when we were all together (11 of us including children, spouses, grandchildren) at a ranch owned by the Nature Conservancy on the east front of the Rockies in Montana. My wife and I go there most every year because it has become a special for us. It is a part of our country that in many ways looks like it did thousands of years ago and where the Conservancy is working with local ranchers to keep it from becoming too developed. Simply being there is remarkably spiritual experience. Add to this the presence of those we love the most (and sensing that they love us right back) gets me excruciatingly close to “perfect” even if only for a week. I can settle for that.

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Here are some bumper stickers that I wish I had seen:

You’re just jealous because the voices only talk to me.
I’m not a complete idiot, some parts are missing.
Ever stop to think and forget to start again?
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
Worry is a waste of imagination.

Robert Seiler
Purple Onion Café
www.purpleonionsaluda.com