Memphis Democrat
June 19, 2003

There's been plenty of visitors this week, and more are on the way. Arthur, Rebecca and their daughter Alesandra visited us from Arkansas. And Maikwe and her son Gibran are joining us for six weeks. Many of us are glad to have children around the place. We're having more families visit next week, which will bring the total number of children to a whopping seven. Then in the slightly older age group, a group of 20 students from the James Baldwin Academy summer program in Kirksville came by for a tour. On the other end of the spectrum, many folks' parents are coming for a visit. Thomas' folks came and picked him up to go visit his hometown in Illinois. Bob's parents drove all the way up from Texas for the weekend.

Music is in the air. The other night when I was heading to my house to go to bed, Tamar, Cecil and Penn were on the deck of Skyhouse serenading the village. I love to hear the fiddle and banjo on the night air. But the big show was given by Jacque and Cecil at the New Testament church in Rutledge on Sunday. We heard their performance was well received.

It's starting to feel like summer, which include many people experiencing allergies. And with the temperature rising, the hair is getting shorter. Cecil got a new haircut just in time for his performance. And Colie got her first very short haircut. They both look great. I suspect more is on the way.

Folks seem to be busy working just about all the time. Skyhouse packed 20 tons of gravel into their porch foundation. The Common House crew dug and poured the footers for the foundation. Chad has built an extensive little set up by his tent. And the garden is starting to produce yummy stuff like snap peas and kohlrabi (a relative of broccoli that looks like a small UFO).

For years I've been volunteering at a butterfly count that happens in Thousand Hills State Park several times a summer. Similar counts happen in parks all over the state. The person who has been organizing the event turned it over to me and my friend Pete. Saturday was our first count as leaders. It went pretty well. We saw 14 species (that we could identify) of butterflies and hundreds of individuals. If you are interesting in going sometime, just let me know.

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