Memphis Democrat
July 26, 2007

Suzanne here—this will be my last column for some time to come. I'm moving back to Portland Oregon in two weeks and expect to be away for the next year or two. I'm moving back to the city to work on making and saving money to build a house here. While I have found it easy here to make enough income through various part time jobs to pay all of my bills, I do not find it as easy to make enough money to save here. In the city I will be able to do that a lot more quickly. I will miss Dancing Rabbit a lot and it's going to be a big transition. There are so many incredibly things about living here that I take for granted now but will sorely miss in the city. I am looking forward to seeing all of my friends in Portland and to applying some of the many things that I've learned here about living sustainably to my life in the city. I have been busy in the past week sorting and organizing all of my stuff, and getting ready for the move.

It seems as though everybody has been sorting and organizing this week. Tom and Tereza are moving into their house—the newly redesigned Bluestem kitchen. It's hard to believe now that it ever was a kitchen, it has been so transformed. The walls are painted a beautiful butterscotch color and Tom and Tereza's natural wood furniture (much of which Tom made) shows up beautifully against the walls. Lots of people came over to help with the move and most of the large items are over, though there is still plenty of work to do. Tony and Alyssa's new house is almost complete as well—they've moved in the furniture and begin to decorate. It is a huge relief to them to have their home settled before the baby's arrival and before winter. And Toby and Michelle completely rearranged their room over in Skyhouse this week—to make it function better as a joint office and sleeping space.

It was a sad week for Kurt and Alline and for all of us who love them. Alline's brother Jess died Wednesday night after a fall from a ladder. He was 47 years old. Alline left for Portland on Thursday to be with her sister-in-law and her three nieces. Only a day after that news, Kurt found out that his father has an inoperable brain tumor. He left for Fargo this Friday. Please keep both families in your thoughts and prayers.

Ted, Sara and Aurelia spent the week getting ready for their three week vacation in Maine. Normally before a big trip like this I would expect to see Ted and Sara working up till the last minute to accomplish a long list of gardening and building chores. Instead, they were all ready a day ahead of time. Well, it's a mystery to me but I doubt we can attribute the speed and efficiency of their trip preparation to Aurelia. Aurelia is mostly intent these days on walking around the village in her diaper and her new shoes. Just try to stop her! She can cover a lot of ground very quickly.

Skyhouse lexers John and Ivy arrived this week from Twin Oaks community. They are helping Skyhouse build a new greenhouse that will attach to the south side of the house. And Bear has been hard at work inside Skyhouse building a railing for the stairs. By the time Amy comes home from Toronto, the place will be transformed. Unfortunately Skyhouse also lost their fridge this week—if anyone out there has an old fridge that Skyhouse could have or borrow for a month until their fridge is fixed, please call and leave a message at 660 883 5500.

Rachel returned from her trip to Alaska looking refreshed and happy. Panda and Clair both left for visits to family. Jason and Noah moved their camper over to Red Earth Farms. Jason is going to try out Red Earth Farms, while keeping his residency here open, to see which community feels like a better fit for him. We are sad to see him move, but glad that he is going no further than Red Earth Farms.

We held forums this week for Dan and Michelle—the final step on their way to becoming members. And we held a forum for our visitors Jeff and Matt, who would like to come back as residents. Matt is hoping to come back as soon as August, while Matt may move here either this winter if housing is available, or early in the spring if it is not. The Carleton family should be here within the week to begin their residency and past resident Jen is planning to return sometime this summer as well. It looks like it will be a booming winter here population wise.

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