Memphis Democrat
August 5, 2007

This is Alyssa reporting the news from Dancing Rabbit for the past week. Our newest residents, the Carleton family, arrived from New York in a large, yellow moving truck Monday evening, adding two new adults and three new children to our population. The Carleton's moved directly into Dan's old house and already to me feel as if they are an integral part of our community.

Tuesday was Brian's 23rd birthday as well as "Larkspur Day". We celebrated Brian's birthday with a song and chocolate cake at potluck dinner and "Larkspur Day" with an open house at the home, aptly named, Larkspur. Bear and I started building Larkspur just one year prior and wanted to welcome folks into our home to acknowledge the completion of one year's work as well as show off our home. At one point, I counted some 20 people in our house as well as a handful of folks sitting outside. For me, it was wonderful to recognize all our hard work in the past year as well as share the space with others. Soon enough, we will be joined in Larkspur by a newborn, so it seemed timely to feel as if the house is more complete.

Amy C., Rachel, Liat, Suzanne, myself as well as our neighbors both Judy and Danette all brought their handiwork to Sewing Night on Thursday night. Amy C. was working on a skirt she started back during her visitor time here in April with fabric bought from Zimmerman's store. Both Rachel and Liat were working on quilted curtains for Skyhouse and Larkspur windows, respectively. Suzanne was knitting a scarf while I was knitting a wool diaper cover. And even in the midst of all that, there was lots of socializing and catching up.

Bear and I had a nice surprise on Friday afternoon when Oakwood Industries called to let us know that our new rocking chair was ready to be picked up. A good friend recently gave the rocker to us as a gift for use with the new baby and we couldn't wait to get it into our home! Thanks so much to Eugene Oberholtzer as well as everyone at Oakwood for their excellent service and beautiful work.

A dedicated group of bowlers headed into Kirksville Friday night to try their hand at a few games. I am told a good time was had by all.

Rachel and Tony attended the NEMO democrats picnic in Memphis Saturday afternoon. The rest of us, well we worked on finding ways to keep cool in the heat. August has certainly started off warm and I find myself again looking forward to the days when I might need to light a fire to keep warm. In the meantime, we all continue to reap the harvest of summer in the garden with produce like tomatoes, cucumbers and squash coming in everyday. I suppose the heat is worth it for that!

Sunday evening we all gathered to say goodbye to Suzanne as she leaves for Portland this week. Even with cake in hand, I can't pretend to be happy about her departure. I hope she finds her fill of city life and returns to us refreshed and in short while.

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