Memphis Democrat
July 18, 2002

Alline's birthday was weeks ago, but Cecil was away in the Far East and he hates to miss her annual birthday No Talent show. People perform things that are totally unrehearsed, or do things that they are not skilled at. So when we had dinner over at Sandhill on Tuesday we watched folks play instruments they had never picked up before, do silly stunts, etc. while we laughed along.

On the other end of the talent spectrum, Tamar taught a bunch of the interns how to make tofu starting from dry soybeans. After hours in front of the stove, they made enough tofu that everyone could eat as much as they wanted. Then Jeffrey pulled off one of his elaborate meals and served crepes filled with a sauce of gooseberries and blackberries he had picked that morning and covered with a delicious whipped topping made from tofu.

Jenny and her two children Emily and Megan visited. They had never been here before but they were all fast friends with many folks after a week of painting, sewing, game playing and bead stringing. We hope they'll come back soon. Thomas Kortkamp arrived on bicycle to spend three months here helping out. He is from Pekin, IL and finally made it back after visiting two years ago.

We're happy to host Jacque Funk from Huntsville, MO. She's the friend that Cecil visited when he went to China. We all are enjoying meeting her in person after hearing about their adventures bicycling around and trying all the interesting vegetarian dishes China has to offer.

We had a record Saturday tour, with fifteen people asking so many questions it lasted twice the usual one hour. We had people attend who live as far away as Los Angeles and as close as right here in Scotland County. Its always fun for me to meet people who are interested in what we are doing, answer their questions and hear their experiences.

Tamar and I had a lovely visit with Lorraine Kapfer at her place in Memphis. We bicycled up on the promise of grape vine thinnings and ended up with baskets full of flower cuttings and heads full of stories. We're really glad to see Lorraine working in her gardens, proving that she must be getting better from her knee surgery.

Tony and I went down to Larry and Betsy Ayers' place down by Knox City. Tony needed to drop off wood to be sawed into trim and I wanted to get a look at all their prairie flowers. Though we see them here and there regularly we hadn't been to their house since we helped them raise the bents to their timberframe in '97. It was such fun to see the house all finished and to catch up on each others' lives.

The big accomplishment of the week was Skyhouse getting all their solar electric panels up onto the roof of their house. It took a whole crew of people two full days with climbing equipment and scaffolding, but they got those unwieldy panels secured to the roof and they should be all wired up before we know it.

Everyone seemed to be working harder and enjoying life more after the weather cooled down. And the plants sure drank up the rain. We can only hope the weather stays cool for a while longer.

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is a nonprofit and a residential community that demonstrates ecological sustainability in Rutledge, MO. We give a tour every Saturday at 1pm. Please call first before coming by, at 883-5511.

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