Memphis Democrat
February 3, 2005

It has been a very social couple of weeks, especially for this time of year. Stefanie and Arjen returned from visiting friends and family (and one very special dog) in Oregon, and arrived just in time for a joint birthday party for Kathe and me. Kathe hosted the party at Sandhill, and we all feasted on a wonderful potluck dinner and then visited with each other and enjoyed a couple of "No-Talent Show" performances.

One of the things I enjoy about living in community is that our lives tend to be more flexibly scheduled, which means that on my birthday different people dropped in all day long, staying to visit for a couple of hours before leaving.

Tamar and Jeffrey also arrived home from visiting family in Georgia and Massachusetts. Tamar was very excited to get back and meet our new border collie puppy, Gus. Her dog Maya seems to like Gus, except when his boundless energy to play overwhelms her. Sara and Ted's dog Isis is clearly the queen of the pack, although she too enjoys some puppy-play from time to time. When Alline and Kurt come home for our annual retreat in a few weeks, Gus may meet his match in Baloo, one of the most relentlessly playful dogs I know.

Last week we had a visitor named Nathan who enjoyed his stay here so much he's applying for residency. He does online marketing and gave us lots of pointers for attracting more people to our website and our publications. I hope he returns! I also hope we see more of another Nathan, Jacque's new friend from Iowa who's been seen hereabouts on occasion.

At our meeting on Sunday we accepted even more residents: Tim and Jennifer Johnson and their three children. They visited some time ago and after checking out other communities for a few years, they decided to come back here to stay. Many of us are really looking forward to finally having some kids around here.

What with yoga, art night, watching the Lord of the Rings director's cuts, skating, playing basketball in the Rutledge school gym, visiting Zimmermans' cafe, playing board games, and having potlucks, hardly a day goes by without some enticing group activity. It's hard sometimes to buckle down and do the work that brings in the income. Yet this is the time of year to get those things done, for soon it will be building and planting season; soon it will be spring...

...in fact, spring may already be here. Erik and I set out the taps for maple sugaring already. The temperatures are hovering right around freezing, and the sap seemed to be running despite the early calendar date. And today I heard a meadowlark!

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