Memphis Democrat
June 26, 2007

Tony here with all the news and views from Dancing Rabbit on this late June day. It has been a busy week so there is lots to share. First the news.

The time finally came to take down our majestic elm tree that has shaded our village entry for so many years. It was probably the only full sized elm tree I've seen around in years and we feel lucky to have lived in its shadow. But old age and the Dutch Elm disease finally caught up with her and for safety's sake it was time to bring her down. After a ceremony to honor the old tree Ted performed the hard work of bringing down the major limbs from up in the tree. We managed to bring them down with the only injuries being to a ladder and one of the Milkweeds "batter boards" that were marking their foundation lines. A big crew quickly broke up the small stuff to burn and set aside larger branches for firewood. Some material was saved for construction and more awaits one home or another. For now we have an odd looking carcass of a tree still standing awaiting a tree house or someday a larger chain saw than we have on hand.

One sad event during the cutting was the need to relocate two active bird's nests. A Baltimore Oriole and a Warbling Verio were still raising nestlings in the elm so we relocated their nests to nearby trees in the hopes that the parents would find them and still raise them up. It was amazing to see their nests up close and marvel at the intricacies of their weaving and the delicateness of the little ones. Let's hope they make it.

Alongside the destruction is the Milkweed's construction site. With two big holes dug for a basement and a cistern Kurt's crew has been busy busy busy. Seems like half the community is working "down in the hole" laying up block with Chad from Red Earth Farms leading the crew. Unfortunately there have been many cave-ins, not of any dangerous type but the kind that leave a lot of dirt to be shoveled out of an eight foot hole. Now thats some hard work for sure. It gives the block layers extra incentive to get things done quick so they can get concrete poured and do the backfill in a more controlled manner.

Tom and Tereza have been hard at work on converting Bluestem from a kitchen into a home. They've called for a few work parties to clean the walls and ceiling and then for painting. They've got some exciting bright ochre earth tones that really give the place a striking look. They've also had a crew cleaning the reclaimed flooring they plan to put in soon. Its exciting to see the place so transformed!

Dan Steineke was back in town for a few days to sign the deal on selling his home. He and Rachel went to town to get the paper work notarized and get a check from the bank. She is buying the home with the intent to sell it to our new residents the Carletons who will be coming in July. Our system doesn't allow non-members to hold a lease so they will be renting until they are approved as members at which point they will buy the house from Rachel.

On Thursday night Red Earth Farms had its second anniversary of buying its land. Luckily they managed to buy their land on the summer solstice giving us two excuses to party and a really beautiful sunset to watch late into the evening. Alyson led folks on a tour to see the results of their recent endeavors and she shared treats she brought back from her trip to Russia. Despite (or maybe because of) some gusty wind and some gentle rain it was a great party.

Speaking of anniversaries DR will be celebrating its tenth this October and we spent Saturday afternoon writing postcards to old members, residents, interns, and other folks inviting them to the event. Its hard to belive we've already been here ten years - time does fly.

And speaking of round numbers and parties Alline celebrated a major milestone on Saturday with a big birthday bash (I'll let you guess the round number). There were many cakes and cup cakes, a women's circle where they shared memories of Alline and a big sing-a-long in the evening. Alline requested that people wear party hats and people pulled out some good ones including a coonskin cap, a two foot tall cat-in-the-hat-style hat, and even a hard hat. We sang all of Alline's favorites and many more.

Irene Mayfield came over for dinner on Monday for our neighbor series where we invite local folks over so we can get to know each other. We talked about the Rutledge Community Building and its need for repair and she shared stories of Rutledge back in the old days. Its always fascinating to hear about folks riding to school on horseback or when the road was first built by the WPA. Amazing how much has changed in a single lifetime.

Well this has been long enough so I'll just skip the weather and sports. Until next time…

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