Memphis Democrat
May 4, 2006

Hey folks! Jenn here with news from an exciting spring week at Dancing Rabbit. Spring is definitely showing in all her glory at Dancing Rabbit right now. This week has shown mostly fair weather, perfect for dips in the pond and land-walks, and we've also gotten a little much-needed rain to quench our gardens and cisterns.

Ironweed and Skyhouse, Dancing Rabbit subcommunities, seem to be the most active in getting this season's garden scene going. Laura, Bob, and Thomas have also been taking advantage of the beautiful weather by spending a lot of time nurturing the plants on their warrens.

Our magnificent group of visitors has also been hard at work, helping in the gardens, kitchens, and orchards. On Friday morning, several visitors helped out in planting dozens of new fruit trees for Dancing Rabbit. They've also been an excellent help for DR's newest co-op, Sunflower, with whom they've been eating most of their meals.

Many of us have had great times hanging out with our visitors on game nights, playing "The Greatest Game Ever Invented", a comedic game similar to pictionary that spawns random, bizarre sentences like "Mouse croquet, everyone!" ...We also had a good time with Monopoly, which Ron beat us all at, in spite of a bad start, and the Game of Life, which we had more fun mocking than playing. Several Rabbits have also shared bonfires and singalongs with our guests, and on Wednesday evening, I went with Tony Barrett, Geneveive, and Allysa to Memphis for a fun night out. We've also enjoyed a few nights of dancing in the dark, a new DR tradition started a few months ago by Jennifer.

On Sunday, six Ultimate-obsessed Rabbits including Tamar, Nathan, Ted, Tony, Cecil, and Jennifer returned from an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Saint Louis. Although they didn't win any games, they seem to have all had a great time, although I think they were relieved to be home. Nathan was probably the most eager to return to Dancing Rabbit, since he just purchased Susan and Erik's house and has a huge move ahead of him from his room in Skyhouse.

On Friday, television reporter Jennifer Jones from Columbia came to film a short segment about Dancing Rabbit as a part of a report she's doing about alternative lifestyles. Tony and I both enjoyed introducing her to Dancing Rabbit and we're glad to have this as an opportunity for outreach.

Rich, one of our visitors, has announced that he is going to adopt the stray cat who has been roaming our property, known affectionately as the Compost Kitty because o his love of Bluestem's compost pile. I was extremely relieved to hear that C.K. was going to have a home. Because of the ecological impact of free-roaming cats during the breeding season for ground-nesting birds, we were concerned that we might have to send C.K. away if we couldn't find a home for him, so I was thrilled to hear that he had found a guardian. On behalf of Compost Kitty, thank you, Rich!

It's been a busy week, and we've got even more excitement ahead of us in the upcoming weeks. We have what seems to be a whole stream of people interested in residency, and we're all very eager about Sandhill's upcoming May Day/Land Day celebration. To make things even better, Sparky, Kurt, and Alline--three Rabbits who have been off-farm for several months--are going to return next week. With Spring energy finally here, we've got fun and exciting times ahead of us!

Ironweed is still looking for Straw! If you happen to have any that you can spare, please give us a call!

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