The Land

This story takes place on a small piece of land two miles outside the town of Rural Retreat, Virginia, in the foothills of the Appalachians. The land is softly hilly, rich, and productive. At the time of the story, Rural Retreat was a center of cabbage production, the cabbages shipped on the railroad that ran through the little town and whose historic station is boarded up today.

After the Second World War, cabbages were replaced by dairy farming. Today there is not a cabbage patch to be seen and the black and white Holsteins, so good for milk production, have given way to beautiful Black Angus and creamy Charolais.

Although it is miles away from the New River, the land is rich in springs, which create a network of little streams and "branches" in which the cows wade. One such spring plays a significant role in this story.

It is a stunningly beautiful landscape and must have looked like home to the English and German settlers who came down the Shenandoah Valley in the early years of this country.