Memphis Democrat
July 28, 2005

This is Nicole writing to you on an overcast Monday morning. I hear a 'cold' front is coming our way, but it seems like hot and dry has been the weather motif for the past several weeks. I've noticed that I have a special way of functioning, sort of analogous to my efforts at hibernation during the most frigid months, when the ambient temperature is higher than my body temp. The scope of my physical activity narrows until I find that my days are devoted almost exclusively to stretching out in some shady spot, or searching for such a shady spot. Linear thinking gets dropped in favor of a montage of deep thoughts like 'I love ice!' and 'Why is watermelon so good?' and 'Who ever thought that vinyl would be an appropriate fabric for upholstery? How did such an awful idea gain traction in the realm of modern furnishing?'

I occasionally muster the energy to ride my bike to the air-conditioned, treat-filled oasis that is the Zimmerman's Store, and to water my poor garden, which has become a sort of vegetable triage unit. I've had to make some tough decisions about which plants are likely to produce enough to make hauling water to them worthwhile. The list has dwindled to two beds of tomatoes, several pepper plants, and two tiny, sullen-looking melon plants.

I doubt the melons will actually put on any fruit, so the water I pour on them is more of an offering to the benevolent melon spirits, an acknowledgement of the role they play in helping me through these long, hot days.

So, that's how I'm spending my days. The rest of the Rabbits seem to be leading more action-packed days. Cynder turned seven last week, and she hosted a rollerskating party to mark the event. I hear that everyone had tons of fun, and, as an added bonus, a nice fellow who works there, named Tom Knight, donated a whole bunch of glass gallon jars. They're perfect for storing dry bulk foods.

Last Tuesday, we had another Progressive Fiasco, the first of the year, I think. Progressive Fiascos are parties that progress from one site to the next, with different people hosting each spot. This one included stops at the trampoline, Ironweed's garden, Skyhouse, the swimming pond, the common house, Bluestem's kitchen, and Sara and Ted's house. When I was an intern three years ago, half those stops didn't even exist. Sometimes it's easy to forget how quickly Dancing Rabbit has been growing in the past few years.

The Milkweeds are continuing work on their new wood shed, which means that our friend Kent is often here to help them. Last Friday he surprised us by bring over a TON of sweet corn to share with everyone. It was so good, folks were eating it raw. Ah, summer's bounty.

On Sunday, Ron, who has been visiting for the past couple weeks, announced that he would like to come back to live at Dancing Rabbit. It's always exciting to see new faces around here!

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