High above the main street through Tryon, multicolored prayer flags are sending their mantras on the breath of the Wind Horse across the escarpment of the Appalachian Mountains. Garuda (Wisdom), Dragon (Strength), Tiger (Confidence) and Snow Lion ( Joy ) printed on the flags symbolize the five virtues of Tibetan philosophy.
But no, the flags are men's neckties and the Wind Horse is "Morris the Horse", a giant painted white replica of a nursery toy on the corner of Pacolet Street. Turn here and then turn left onto one way narrow Chestnut street and on the right is the parking lot for Woodland Park.
Trillium spouts up by the first wooden bridge. Bloodroot and a tiny yellow flower bloom along the path.
Blue periwinkle covers the ground. This is a short and beautiful trail winding along a rock stream with a small waterfall.
Behind a fallen log, someone has recently left their cache of Yuengling Lager.
At the foot of the hill is a Dollar General where I buy tiny toys to put in plastic eggs for Zack and Shane.
A woman in the store tells me that her cat ran off with a raccoon. "They are friends," she says.
This is the town where my father lived perhaps eighty years ago, managing a hosiery mill for Abraham Feinberg, president then of Fruit of the Loom.
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