Memphis Democrat
October 29, 2007

The cold nights have sometimes been accompanied by surprisingly warm days and a flurry of activity. Kurt has started up work on the Milkweed Mercantile again and they have finished the sub-floor of the second story. Dan has been insulating the house he moved from Red Earth Farms last week with some light clay straw. He also found the house a little too small and took off the entire front wall to move it out and enclose the porch. Ironweed had a well-attended plaster stomping as part of their push to finish their earthen floor.

While the adults have been scurrying around constructing buildings and cutting firewood, the kids have taken to hanging out on the pile of wood we created when we cut the branches off our large dying elm. I have heard them call it the castle and the fort. It's nice to see the tree that has been central to our community take on a second life, before it comes to its final end heating our common house.

We adults know how to have fun, too. Many of us were awed by the feats of Cirque du Soleil on the big screen. And several folks went to Kirksville to take part in a Halloween Critical Mass bike ride, complete with costumes. I hear turnout and morale was high, despite the rain.

Perhaps most fun was the naming party for the person formerly known as Amy Carleton. People who show up and have a duplicate name often choose a different name to reduce confusion. The Carletons provided snacks and drinks, everyone else provided suggestions for a new name and Bear seemed to be running the show. Fun was had by all as we whittled several dozen names down to a few excellent names for Amy to choose from. We all waited anxiously for the announcement, promised the next day at our weekly meeting. And we were surprised to hear she had chosen Meadow, after reading a poem using the word, even though it had not been on the list.

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