Memphis Democrat
March 17, 2005

Speaking of new faces, we recently welcomed Suzanne as a new member of our village. We've been enjoying her impressive book collection, which she sent several months ahead of her arrival, and we're really glad that she's finally here with us.

Tamar and Jeffrey just returned from their excursion to Iowa to buy a truck for our vehicle co-op. Scotland County residents will see very little of our decrepit brown truck from now on, since we now own a shiny, white 2000 Ford F-350 XLT crew cab. Most Rabbits are just glad to not have to drive the old truck anymore, which has been very slow and unreliable since it's almost as old as some of our members. Tamar, however, has fallen in love with the hulking new machine, which we will run on biodiesel, like the other vehicles in our co-op. Many thanks to Erik, Tamar, and Jeffrey for all the work they put in to locating the right vehicle to meet our needs.

Interesting things have been taking place on the musical front lately. I've been hearing more and more practice sessions and spontaneous jams. Tamar has been really enjoying giving violin lessons, and Laura is looking forward to teaching piano soon. Several people here play guitar, and nearly everyone enjoys singing. Thomas and Ted have been known to serenade the Community Building with drum, harmonica, or flute solos, and Jacque has also been heard practicing on her flute. Jeffrey occasionally belts out intricate choral harmonies in various languages, and Cecil has been very active with his Trombone playing. It's always nice when the rich sound of Nicole's cello is added to the mix, and I'm looking forward to the return of Penn and his banjo picking. There's a lot of musical talent at Dancing Rabbit, and it's wonderful to hear the synergy of creative collaboration.

We recently had a jam session involving a trombone, violin, cello, guitar, piano, and various drums and percussive instruments, as well as plenty of singing. Participants included Cecil, Laura, Nicole, Thomas, Tony, Sara, Suzanne, Julia (who was visiting Alyson and Chad), and myself. We played some Klezmer tunes, followed by a singalong to several songs from "Rise Up Singing." Fun was had by all.

Last Thursday, Arjen showed us a documentary called "The End of Suburbia," which delves into the history and social dynamics of cheap fossil fuels, and the developed world's addictions to them. Everyone here in our ecovillage is already keenly aware of these issues, but it was still enlightening to see all of this information presented in a unified context. According to the 2004 film, most reasonable calculations estimate that we are nearing the peak of oil production, after which energy costs are expected to rise prohibitively, affecting even our most basic needs for food and warmth. Viewing this documentary has inspired us to plan a group discussion about these topics.

Well, that's all the news I can think of. Look forward to next week's column, which will be written by Laura. Until then, take care.

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