Memphis Democrat
October 21, 2007

Geneveive here, reporting on this especially blustery week at Dancing Rabbit. Cattail fluff is all the rage this time of year, and the cool breezes, though not ideal for those using cattail fluff to make finish plaster, are quite ideal for kid hobbyists' fluff-freeing crusades and for sweater-wearing spectators' swirling wind-watching meditations.

And speaking of kids, this month's relatively small visitor period has raised our current kid population from nine to an astonishing eleven! Jess brought her daughter, Taylor, and Leah brought her son, Ace. Visitors Eve and Wayne have also joined us this week. It was fascinating watching Aurelia meet a child close to her own age. Ace and Aurelia had a couple of rough first encounters, but last I saw, they seemed to be getting used to each other and even playing together. Jess and her daughter, Taylor, friends of the Carletons, both seem to be enjoying their second taste of Dancing Rabbit life and are hoping to come back to live with us soon.

Other entities that have found their way into our community recently include Arm's Reach and Tim's shed. Both of these buildings were built by Tim last year on Red Earth Farms, and Dan has since bought them and had them transported onto our land. I was coming home from Zimmerman's early this week when I saw a gathering of folks standing around the edge of the courtyard. They were watching Arm's Reach (a cabin thusly named because it is so small that everything inside it is "in arm's reach") finding its new home next to the Grain Bin on Pond Path. I have always thought Arm's Reach was a charming little building and was delighted when I heard it was coming to stay in our village.

The cold-time exodus has already begun with Tamar leaving for to attend a yoga teacher training program and to visit family. She will be gone for over a month. Also Liat will be leaving this week to spend the next month at a community in Illinois called Estelle. She will be gardening with them on a work-exchange basis. I really enjoy the inter-visiting aspect that many intentional communities value. Visiting other communities is a wonderful way to travel and experience other places, and hosting work-exchangers is a great way for communities to meet their labor needs. I hope to visit other communities this way in the years ahead.

For now, I must prepare myself for my first winter in Missouri. Although I lived here last spring and summer, I left by late October and just returned this August. I am very excited to see what winter is like here, what with the population decrease, hibernation time, and the thrilling icy stillness of the land I imagine but have yet to see. But no need to be impatient for the winter; it will surely come.

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