Memphis Democrat
March 15, 2007

Ted here at Dancing Rabbit with this week's news. There was an unmistakable ebullience in the air at Dancing Rabbit this week, the warming air seeming to sweep away the accumulated layers of long underwear, jackets, gloves and hats that mark winter. Friday, the first really warm day, seemed to bring every member out of hiding, with a majority at work cleaning up, dealing with the last rounds of firewood, preparing the garden for the year to come, and so on. Ironweed had its first work party with Tony and Alyssa joining in as members, and we got the garden whipped into shape, ready for loads of mulch and manure to arrive in the coming weeks. Trellises came down, new water barrels for irrigation went up, the skeletons of last year's tomatoes and brassicas joined the compost pile, asparagus was mulched, and even Aurelia joined in, following Sara through all her tasks strapped to her back. Monday we'll be working in the kitchen, preparing that work site for construction to get started again.

Earlier in the week, Dancing Rabbit's Tree Team pulled out the pruners, loppers, saws and ladders to prune the apples and pears in our orchard and elsewhere in the village. Thomas, Tamar, Suzanne and I made short work of it, wrapping up just before lunch. Having been on the team since I moved here, it is gratifying to see the pruning work of previous years begin to bear fruit, both literally and figuratively, in the form of well-structured scaffolds and crowns where the pruning needs are easy and minimal. Stone fruit pruning is just around the corner. Here's hoping for another great fruit year like last year!

Bluestem experienced a triple whammy when the last of the strong winds from the previous week loosened a connection in the wind turbine housing, blew its photovoltaic array off its pole mount, busting the connection, and blew the lid off the cistern lid, allowing the intake pipe for the water system to freeze overnight. Over the following several days, Tom and a few helpers took the wind tower down and put it up again after the repair, and got the panels put back up on a newly reinforced mount. The water issue he took care of himself with a strategic application of boiling water. Sometimes the most obvious solution is also the best.

Tony and Rachel returned from a trip to California mid-week, just in time to catch the first installment of the BBC's lush six-hour treatment of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which Sara received as a Christmas present and had been itching to show (despite having seen it several times before). In another cinematic throwback to our winter habits, Monday night Sara and I also showed Willow, one of our mutual favorites, and Brian offered The Harder They Fall the night before.

In addition to the work parties that took place spontaneously Friday, Saturday afternoon many of us took part in the first 'swarm' of the season, where anybody willing to help got together to take care of a few needs for a few folks in the village. The idea is to have a sign-up for those interested in hosting a swarm to get something they need help with taken care of, and every couple weeks a new swarm will descend on each project in turn. At Bella Ciao we helped Suzanne get her wood pile split and stacked and some barrels moved from a garden spot, while at the Timberframe we helped Jennifer get her firewood organized and also cleared out her back porch. It's amazing what ten people can accomplish in an hour or two, especially when aided by the glasses of iced tea and plate of cookies provided by Alline, our unfailing source of treats just when they're most needed.

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