Memphis Democrat
March 29, 2007

Hello dear readers. This is Alline reporting for Dancing Rabbit.

Spring has sprung with a vengeance. Suzanne is up early every morning, puttering, moving stuff around in wheelbarrows, and generally making me feel like a slug as I sit and watch out my window, sipping my morning coffee. Bob has built a new “rabbit-proof” (ha!) fence around his garden, and the Ironweeders (Tony B., Alyssa, Tamar, Ted and Sara) have been starting seeds by the dozen. I am anxiously (droolingly) awaiting their first spinach and salad greens harvest – yum! Tereza is choosing which flower seeds to sow outside her windows – hmmmm, should she go with a red palette or a yellow? The trees are all budded out, and every time I blink the grass has grown another inch. Whew!

My husband Kurt and I designed our house so that our second-story bedroom overlooks the east for sunrises. Each morning, as I lie in bed slowly coming to consciousness, I watch the sky turn a million shades of bright pink, and the clouds, if there are any, put on quite a show. In the silhouetted, still leafless trees are dozens of blackbirds, randy with spring and all of its implications, displaying and bobbing, spreading their wings and hopping about. Because we still have our storm windows on, watching this is like watching a silent movie – I see their “lips” moving but can hear no sound. The nights are even more glorious. Walking around outside at dusk is overwhelming aurally – crickets, peepers, birds, kids laughing on the trampoline…life is good!

Several Rabbits subscribe to Netflix, and when others are interested we share our movies. On Wednesday we showed Water, a film that takes place in India in 1938. It was stunningly beautiful visually, and equally difficult emotionally. Tony B. and Alyssa received and shared Murderball a documentary about quadriplegic rugby. Yes, you read that right. They play on a basketball court, in wheelchairs that resemble something out of the Mad Max movies. Playing this full contact sport, smashing and tipping over, they are at ease with their “limitations” and living the heck out of life. And then Kurt, who enjoys what he calls “exploding” movies, shared the new James Bond flick Casino Royale with the Exploding Movie Club. While informal, the Club often consists of Tom, Rory, Ted, Bob, Mark (from Red Earth Farms) and Kurt. Kapow! Suzanne joined in for this movie, but was not amused, as Bond was more thuggish than smooth. She prefers her Bond shaken, not stirred.

I had an epiphany of sorts the other day. Which is odd, because I’m not really the sort for epiphanies. But here’s what happened. I placed an add weeks ago in the local shopper for canning jars (I have big visions of peaches, tomatoes, apples, berries…all packed up neatly for winter). The response has been fantastic. But more than the jars I find what I enjoy most is getting out, exploring parts of Northeastern Missouri that I have not seen before, and getting to know my neighbors. I had a delightful chat with Mary Carlson of Greentop, who graciously sent me home not only with a gazillion jars but with a dozen of fresh eggs, too. Shirley in Memphis had all of her jars in the boxes and labeled, and showed us pictures of her painting projects. Chad in Downing let us cherry pick through dozens of jars and went off to work, with a smile and a wave. We picked up windows from Sharon in Bible Grove who also gave us a delightful tour of the old school. But it was driving home from Mary’s in Greentop that I had my moment. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, I became a believer. The brown fields no longer looked lifeless and dead – I could envision how gorgeous and green they must be in the spring and summer. The undulating hills finally revealed their subtle beauty to me, and I was astounded. Missouri is finally beginning to feel like home to this displaced Californian, and I am grateful to all of the friendly folks who live here for sharing their home with me, and all the Dancing Rabbits.

We continue ramping up for the beginning of construction of our newest building here at Dancing Rabbit. While we’ll post more details about the building itself soon, we will need 800 small square (tight, well-formed, wire-tied) straw bales in June. If you’ll have some available, please call Kurt at 660-883-5634.

Amy and Juan returned from their travels, tired, happy and glad to be home. Rachel has gone on her annual pilgrimage to Long Island, where Tony will join her after meetings with the Fellowship for Intentional Community, an umbrella organization for communities that DR belongs to. Aurelia is eight months old now, towheaded and blue-eyed, and an absolute delight. Ted and Sara are gracious enough to share her, especially during meetings, where she voices her opinion on many subjects.

In other news, the mood was bittersweet as we bid farewell to Cecil. He is off to New York City, where he has job opportunities at both Columbia and New York Universities. While it is difficult to see him go because we’ll miss his humor, hard work and enthusiasm, he has been here at Dancing Rabbit for ten years, and spent many more years before that bringing DR to life. He needs a break, new adventures and challenges, and the opportunity to try his hand in the ‘real world.’ We can only hope that the lights of New York will look dim in comparison to the spectacular blue skies of Missouri summers, that the pool at the local gym will be only half as fun as getting covered with muck in our pond, and that the cacophony of car motors and horns will seem crass in comparison with the musical sound of meadowlarks throwing back their heads to sing, sing, sing. Have fun, Cecil, and then come home!

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