Memphis Democrat
June 12, 2003

Nearly everyone has returned from their travels and it's great to see a full table at dinner. Tony and Alyson had a great time at in Tennessee at a community called the Farm. Cecil and Jacque got back from Boulder, CO where they attended to a friend's wedding. Susan returned from her travels to Finland where she worked as a personal assistant for a disabled employee of the World Bank.

We have one new face around the place. Doug is spending the summer as a work exchanger helping build Skyhouse. He is from Illinois but he spent the last year living in India. We've also had a little visit from Miss Lindsey (as we like to call her). She lived for several years at Sandhill but is now living in California. But she still likes to visit her friends in northeast Missouri.

The three guys from the Korean television station (Han, Kim and Kyong) have been filming nearly everything that has been happening. They also helped us cook a Korean meal for dinner one night. And they have been teaching us silly phrases in Korean, like "Nice pants!" upon our request.

I've gotten the language bug recently. It's been fun learning to speak simple Korean, like the numbers and "thank you." But it's been great to revive my high school Spanish. Lots of folks here speak Spanish and have even lived in Spanish-speaking countries. Susan (Wright) taught English to Spanish speakers and she has been holding little Spanish gatherings in her house. She is smart enough to know that children's books are just about the right speed for folks like me, and card games can make learning fun.

This has been a week for making things. Chad built a cart out of scrap materials that can be pulled by hand or bicycle. Thomas made sandals out of used tires. Tom built a beautiful wardrobe and you can't even tell it's made from reused barn wood. Andra made a good test batch of biodiesel and is gearing up to make a big batch. Ted, Tamar and Dan cut dozens of logs and inoculated them with shitake mushroom spores. Laura and I built a bridge over the creek to protect the banks from erosion. Tamar, Ted and Sara have been converting an old ringer washing machine to be bicycle powered. And lots of folks have been making things out of the clay Thomas prepared and are planning to fire it.

Sara and Ted's little leasehold was approved and they have been busy mowing, surveying and staking it. They have plans for a little starter house and greenhouse they want to build this year. Kent and his crew poured the lid of the cistern for the common house. I hear the rest of the foundation for the house is going to get dug any day now.

So really, you should come by for the tour and see all the changes that have been taking place. Or, our online tour is up on the website (though I only recommend this for people who have fast connections like DSL).

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