Personal note to our guests

I've been thinking that were I the guest-to-be at Mountain Song Inn (this Virginia Bed and Breakfast near the mountain-music-mecca, Floyd, VA) I'd like to know a little about the folks who would be hosting my stay in the these Blue Ridge Mountains, these welcoming hills that John Denver thought to be painted on the sky.

Regular folk, really; that's us. Audrey and I talked about opening a B&B for years. Then as the children sprouted their wings and the ever encroaching years seemingly stirred the winds of change in our thinking, a coalescing of "hospitality direction" seemed to emerge. So, we followed.

Those winds blew us into Lexington, VA to a B&B owned by our good friends, Tim & Jan Decker: www.magnoliahouseinn.com. A couple of days and nights there, learnin', helpin', and chattin' sealed the deal on the concept. And the search up and down the northeast and mid-Atlantic for the right B&B was born.

I still have my hand in professional business as I have had for twenty-some years; Audrey is really your "innkeeper", but gets a good share of business backing from yours truly, John. You'll find Audrey to be a gracious, real, friendly, aim-to-please, good-cookin' host (or is it hostess?). She takes delight, as do I, in decorating our home for our enjoyment as well as for that of others: our family, friends, and guests. Attention to décor is not just to "sell" the place, but really stems out of kinship for where we live: of making "home", just that—a warm, comfortable and inviting dwelling where we can retreat physically and emotionally from the hurried pace that surrounds us all. Audrey is also fond of art, sewing, reading, antiquing, gardening, and especially Annie and Boo (Kelsey), our two mini-Schnauzers. She's creative and loves to cook: We all benefit from that wonderful inclination.

As for me, things dear to my heart are many, maybe too many…I like to contemplate, create, remember, wonder why, and talk to God a lot. Manifesting forth all this inward stuff, my proclivities involve writing, photography, music, a broad gamut of reading, gardening (mainly from the aesthetic perspective), and simply workin' in the yard with almost anything that grows and is reflective of the wonder of Creation around me.

Audrey and I are both interested in most outdoor things, from certain sporting activities such as kayaking and biking, to the strenuous activity of spending money at flea markets for more appointments to the home we probably don't need. But it's in enjoying Creation that our hearts find the most joy: The mountains; the big sky; the seasons; the tiny wildflowers; the crashing thunder; the sound of the cricket's slowed, metered "chirp" as the coolness of fall approaches, slowing the creatures metabolism; the first snow; stormy weather; storms giving way to those wonderful NW highs that show us anew the sun always shines and blue skies frame the heavens.

So interesting and wondrous it all is…Enjoy our home for a time; share these things with us.

       
                               " Come away by yourselves...and rest a while." Mark 6:31

John and Audrey