Memphis Democrat
January 21, 2008

Hi all, Geneveive here with the skinny on DR this week. The still, small village we were last month has re-erupted: mostly with sound, and mostly because all of our kids (with their parents) have returned to us.

It is nothing less than fascinating to watch little newborns turning into babies turning into toddlers, with all the funny faces and sounds and signs they make. Having never been so close to young children developing before, it's wonderful to witness how aware and capable the young ones can be. It's especially interesting to watch Aurelia, Zane, and Adam, and how Adam is catching up to Zane who is catching up to Aurelia. Soon enough they'll appear to be all the same age, but for now they're like regarding a little person timeline in three stages.

With temperatures in the single digits this week, folks have obliged to spend more time in the indoors, whether relaxing in the common house with a book (read: seed catalog), or back at their own houses dreaming of spring renovations. But really, I think folks are charging up for our annual retreat which will begin on Friday. Every year we hold a retreat, which consists of several days of meetings on business and other topics; we use this time to do much of our yearly decision-making and planning, and inevitably we get to know each other better by the end of it. There are quite a number of new members here this year (myself included) who have never been to a DR retreat, and I think it will be fascinating to see what will come of this new and energetic mix.

And speaking of energetic, Alline and Kurt recently returned from a trip to New York where Alline and four other recipients of the Eileen Fisher Business Grant Program for Women Entrepreneurs were honored in a special two-day conference. Upon returning home, Alline invited the community to a breakfast of New York bagels and cream cheese (both vegan and non). A bunch of us showed up in the great room that morning, and were delighted to hear about Alline and Kurt's exciting trip. Alline reported feeling well-refreshed and encouraged by the conference and we report having felt well-refreshed by the bagels!

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