Charlottesville Virginia in the old days had a small college hangout where drinking got rowdy and duck races (rubber) were held as needed to relieve tension. References to this place on the web are scarce, and even the spelling is in dispute. One site calls it “Carrol’s Tea Room” while another “Carroll’s Tea Room”.
Not in dispute is the next line of the sign: “No Carrol (or Carroll), No tea. No Room.” There must be a picture of this once infamous place, but no one has bothered to post one on the web that I could find. Almost a lost bit of history.
Carroll’s came to mind yesterday as Sal and I were starting our Sunday walk. Near the house is Beaver creek, a fairly steady creek that flows into lake Talavana. We walked down into the small floodplain, under river birch arches and over to the white sand creek. I looked down and said, “No Beavers and No Creek”. Beaver creek was dry as a bone in the sun. Not even a puddle. We talked a minute about the disastrously low rainfall and the fire potential. None of the branches of Beaver creek were flowing, and only a few had so much as a puddle. Not good for wildlife.
Later that day we noticed a black rat snake coming from one of our small fish ponds, and for some time we have been seeing water snakes hanging around and in the ponds. Click! It seems we have one of the very few places with water where critters can get a drink.
Last week I ran into a guy in Texas who keeps a sharpened hoe by his door to kill snakes. My feeling is they were here first, and if they can get by with a little help from their friends, good. Rainbow Rise, our place, is a “No Kill” zone. And an oasis as well, it seems.

Imagae: www. nokillmovie.com

Two of a few references for “Carroll’s Tea Room”.
When Objects Talk: Solving a Crime With Science (Discovery) by Mark P., Jr. Friedlander and Terry M. Phillips (Sep 2001)
e Architecture of Jefferson Country: Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia by K. Edward Lay (Jan 22, 2000)