Today started off a sad day. Geisha, my CA chow girl will be 15 in October, if she makes it. She has a cancerous tumor on her knee that has finally started to give her problems walking, I can tell she's in pain and we are trying to manage it. Timber, who will be 14 this year, if he makes it, has gotten very weak, falls a lot, and last week a tumor started to grow in his mouth, his jaw is swollen and it seems to be aggressive. I was glad there was a talk today on the Flowering Bridge to get an update as to what was going on. I thought it would be a happy lecture on the progress being made.
It was held at the Polk County Ag office, was an off-and-on rainy day, but a nice little group of gardeners did show up.
The speaker has been a volunteer for the bridge for 14 years. She lives above the lake and bridge on a mountain and could never see them down below, but the hurricane took out so many trees the bridge and lake are now visible. They have found 160 plants and trees which are now at her home trying to be revived. The Rainbow Bridge was completely lost, and sadly I was expecting to hear about the "new" bridge and was ready to volunteer to help replant, but it doesn't look like a new bridge will be built. Not what I wanted to hear.
Learned a lot of things I had not heard of. All this debris is from Chimney Rock, the houses that were lost and it all piled up at the bridge causing the water to go a different direction and now the river is not in the same place. Morse Park where Bob and I saved turtles one day, is coming along and we will go back to see the progress. The speaker said the one thing she remembers the day after the hurricane was the smell of propane. There were propane tanks everywhere and so many in the water. The lake is closed for the next year, no one can boat or swim there. The water level is now 12 feet and will be lowered even more to remove debris deep in the lake, vehicles, refrigerators, propane tanks and everything else. The sewer and power systems are now being worked on. Two garden volunteers in Chimney Rock lost their lives when their houses washed away. There was four feet of sand that came from 40 miles away and covered parts of the bridge, the plants were underneath all of the sand. What a horrible mess in such a beautiful area, a place I visited frequently only 20 minutes from my house.
I am so thankful I went to the bridge many times and enjoyed it, but it is so sad to think it will never be there again. It was so beautiful. It will take years to even get the area cleaned up and somewhat presentable, but I will still go out and remember the Flowering Bridge.
One bright spot. The mountain laurel is in full bloom everywhere and I stopped to pick a bouquet to take home.
Smoke was in the air for over two weeks, and we were packed and ready to go if needed. We watched the alerts and wildfire map. It was inching closer, but thank God we finally got rain. Nothing I hate more than smelling smoke, I get so nauseous, friends were getting headaches, and I worried about my old dogs.
They say the big reason for all the wildfires was because of Helene, the tree canopy in lots of areas was gone and all the downed trees and debris was kindling for this dry spell. We still have power outages almost daily, things have really changed since that hurricane. Last Friday was the six month anniversary of the hurricane, and the wildfires were raging in NC and SC. The videos were hard to watch, and I have not seen a single bear yet. I worry about all the wildlife.
Sunday I suggested taking a break from yardwork and taking a drive to look at all the beautiful spring blooms and to head over to "my" old abandoned house to see if it was still standing since the road is still closed six months later. It's there, but really getting in bad shape and the grounds look horrible.
There was some wisteria and a gorgeous camelia in bloom, and I did find two baby hydrangeas that I brought home. The hurricane took its toll, thankfully the wildfires were further up the road.
We parked and walked the road up the mountain. We've never been able to do that as it is a skinny, winding road to Saluda, no shoulders, so this actually was a treat to be able to see all the beauty despite the damage.
This road is the road next to ours and really cannot catch a break. I love this road, but would be afraid to live on it. I think we're luckier on our road because this road's terrain protects ours. So much land charred and that's all you could smell.
Yet, there are signs of life already. This green lizard really stood out on this charred log.
Wildflowers are in bloom.
The river below is beautiful and huge! You just don't see it from the car. I was surprised we were the only ones walking the road as this is our big chance. Since it's been closed for six months, maybe everyone else was ahead of us.
I know NC is the Land of Waterfalls, I just didn't know so many were in my town!
It was a beautiful walk, made my day. We plan on going up I-26 to Saulda this weekend and walking the road down from the top. More photos to come from the other end.
Some of the beauty still intact. These bushes and trees are so amazing!
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