You Can Leave Any Time You Like but You Can't Check In*

*(Read to the end to find out why)

Imagine it's the 1930's or maybe the 40's.You want to get out of the city, somewhere off the beaten path, somewhere with beautiful views, somewhere romantic. You check the train schedules for stops in rural Virginia. One place name intrigues you, Natural Bridge Station. 

This small but thriving spot located high above the James River has a busy train depot...and The Alhambra hotel, taking up the second, third and fourth floors of a stone building in the heart of the little village. 

This  hideaway has everything you are looking for in your time away. Arrange for your train ticket, make your hotel reservations, pack your valise and anticipate the peace and quiet.

the anticipation...

a few steps back in time

take a tour of your surroundings ...

so many rooms, so many choices

settle in a room that suits your style and budget

find something intriguing to read

maybe play a little tune, maybe "Moonlight Serenade"

turn on your fan to keep cool

hang up your clothes in the clothes press 

maybe take a long soak in the tub

in the bathroom down the hall

need a snack before dinner?

enjoy a cool breeze coming off of the river

store your valuables in the chest during your stay

sit for a chat with other guests

enjoy a leisurely evening meal

slight headache? maybe there is a potion in the medicine cabinet

another soak?

oh, like this room better?  no problem

what's up here?

on a very tight budget? you might like the fourth floor accommodations 

Haven't made up your mind yet?

You had better make your reservations quickly, because by the mid 1970's, Natural Bridge Station and The Alhambra will only be a shell of what they once were...and you can no longer make The Alhambra your home away from home...even for a night.

"For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, 

Because our days on earth are as a shadow."  (Job 8:9)

Thank you to the lovely transplant couple in NBS
who made these pictures possible.
My best.

Granny's Pantry #52: Piebald Baby Peacock

It's been a challenge keeping enough peafowl hens at High Rock to ensure the peacock population keeps going. Last year (2017), saw only one baby. Looks like 2018 will be the same.

One of the white mamas had two "peachicks." While only one managed to survive, it was special...it was a piebald. A piebald is an animal "having irregular patches of two colors." This term is used most commonly with horses, but it can also apply to other creatures, such as cows, dogs, cats and birds. 

In this case, the bird is a peafowl, and since the condition is rare, then that makes this bird special.

I just checked on this little peahen, and it seems she is now grown and doing nicely. That was good to hear, because being a peacock at High Rock is not easy. Life there, for fowls, can be a bit high risk.

In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:

“Flee like a bird to your mountain."

(Psalm 11:1)

New Life

“I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, 
though he die, yet shall he live”
John 11:25