Memphis Democrat
November 23, 2006

Rachel here, reporting on a chilly week. As the holiday season approaches, we've had a lot of comings and goings. TonyB and Alyssa put the finishing touches on their house to winterize it before heading off to visit family for the holidays. Ted, Sara and Aurelia traveled to Chicagoland to spend Thanksgiving with Sara's folks. They sure were thankful that Amtrak added another trip on the Quincy line. The "Carl Sandburg" leaves and returns at nice middday times, saving them from the 4:30 am departure to catch the 6 am train.

We also welcomed back the kids from visiting their father in Oklahoma. I was lucky enough to be there when they staggered in to their common house after an eight hour drive. But even dazed from the travel, Rowan, Cynder and Toren brought their signature energy that livened up the place.

It's been sort of quiet these days. Our population is low with so many people traveling. With cold temperatures outside and work slowing down, we have started a jigsaw puzzle in the common house and often several people will be crowded around it.

The cold has had the benefit of sweetening up the brussel sprouts. I hungrily watch them growing in the garden all season and wait for those first frosts. The plants are very frost hardy, in part to the fact the add sugar to the water in their cells as an antifreeze. I love going out and picking those big stalks. I cut the sprouts in half and roast them in the oven with a little oil, salt and pepper. Delicious! And thanks Alline for the recipe.

Ajo, a friend of Tom and Tereza's, visited for a few days and shared his stories and skills with cat's cradle. Sparky, from Edina, joined us for a lovely dinner as part of our neighbor series. We also had an unexpected visitor. A large yellow cat with stripes has been coming around. Though it has no collar, it is very friendly and vocal, so we suspect someone is missing their cat. Please come by if you think it is yours or give us a call at 883-5511.

The cold weather hasn't stopped all work. Tamar has been renovating her house and despite the near freezing weather she had a whole crew of people applying the finish plaster to her inside walls. Now that's one of the benefits of living in community!

We have a tradition here of holding "auctions," where all items are free and they go to the quickest bidder. Alyson extended that idea and held a free yard sale. Everyone was invited to contribute items and then we spent the latter half of Saturday morning socializing and going "shopping." It was a fun way to redistribute items to those who might need or want them more.

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