Robin Felder sees connections. For instance, when he installed the 250-gallon solid copper still at his and his wife Mary’s hilltop home near North Garden, he knew that the high-tech machine would need a considerable water source to cool and condense the evaporated alcohol into the final, drinkable product. The swimming pool, sunk subtly into […]
The poor dog hobbles in with her front paw dangling off the ground, swaddled in a sock drenched in blood. It was all the owner could do to contain the mess before jumping in the car. I’m not completely sure what I’ll find under there, but I’m relieved when it turns out to be a […]
Today, the day after Thanksgiving, I am praying for Gladys the emu. A lapsed Catholic, I haven’t been a churchgoer for years. But praying to St. Francis for the safe return of Gladys, for her reunion with her brother Floyd and sister Mabel at their home 10 miles south of Charlottesville, and for the peace […]
A few weeks back, I visited Neve Hall, a historic Episcopal chapel and manse on 14 acres in Albemarle County, for the first time. Three miles south of I-64 on U.S. 29, the site reveals classic architecture, old-school craftsmanship, and a profusion of art, and simultaneously shows signs of decay and renewal. The architect of […]
Farmville is not a likely spot for a getaway, unless you’re shopping in the massive Green Front Furniture warehouses or dropping students off at Longwood or Hampden-Sydney colleges. But we’d been hearing from friends who’d been to the quaint, historic town to check out its new High Bridge Trail. And with the opening of a […]