Memphis Democrat
January 28, 2008

by Ted

Having been through most of a week of temperatures that plunged to zero or below at night and only the teens or single digits during the day, I was overjoyed to find the thermometer rising again yesterday, however briefly. Fifty degrees almost feels like 70 when the norm has been 10. It is in the coldest parts of winter that I most clearly notice the difference between the living arrangements here at Dancing Rabbit and those we commonly experience when visiting family and friends elsewhere; being owner-built, often by first-time builders, many of the cabins people live in at DR are small or tiny by conventional standards, and often don't include bathrooms, kitchens, or even water systems. Those of us without these amenities get those needs met by sharing such facilities with others. Many share kitchens as eating cooperatives; there is a shower coop with two showers based in the common house; many share the outhouse and indoor bathroom stalls, and share the duties of maintaining them; and some power systems based in one building feed several others. All this contributes to lots of traveling between one's home and other buildings throughout the day, in every season. That keeps us frequently exposed to those frigid temperatures in midwinter, and coincidentally less challenged by the fluctuations in temperature in our many homes without central heating.

That brings me to Matt, a resident who arrived in Fall. There are, in some winters here, those who haven't been here long enough to build a house, who could rent space or arrange some sort of indoor shelter, but choose not to. One will occasionally find these members or residents sleeping on a couch in the common building on the five or six coldest night of the winter, but never before Matt have I witnessed one who not only never sleeps in the common house, but also doesn't use even a tent for shelter, going instead with a doubled hammock setup between two trees, with just a tarp overhead for weather shelter. Hats off to the hardy survivor (but not till he arrives in the common building for breakfast)!

Monday night Jan organized a nightclub-themed party, with lots of candlelight, comfortable seating, and conversation against an aural backdrop of jazz. I was sad to miss it, as I've also enjoyed hosting parties more focused on conversation and ambience than, say, dancing. I look forward to the next time. Jan also organized card construction for our annual Validation Day tradition, where cards are made for each member of the community and we all have a couple weeks to write appreciations of all the people we live with before coming together over brunch on February 14 (which happens to coincide with Valentines Day...) to distribute them and enjoy the sentiments within. The cover collages and other artwork produced were as imaginative and surprising as ever, and I look forward to seeing my own in a couple weeks.

Tuesday after our community supper over at Sandhill there was skating on the pond (ice being one of the positives of that cold weather), and I heard some praise of Stan's rink surfacing skills (the Stanboni?). I still don't own ice skates of my own, but now that we have a larger pond, I'll not wait longer, being sure to acquire some before next winter.

Amy and Juan returned home earlier this month with all three Settlers of Catan board games, and I understand several cold evenings were profitably put to building roads, towns and cities in exchange for various combinations of wheat, sheep, ore, bricks, or lumber. I learned and loved these games years ago but haven't played them much in the last couple years, so I was sad to miss a phoned invitation to sit in on one of these sessions Wednesday evening, and look forward to the next opportunity.

Much of the rest of our week was occupied by the community revving up for our annual retreat in numerous ways, from posting and sending out proposals, to adjusting the schedule and picking up our guest facilitators Tree and Sky, who've already been preparing for the event remotely for some time. With lots of population growth in the past couple years, we decided this year to start our retreat with some process training, specifically workshops on consensus, conflict resolution and facilitation, to get new and old members alike up to speed for tackling the various topics up for discussion this year. Both of our guests have lived in community for years; Tree is a professional facilitator and consensus trainer, while Sky has done lots of similar work.

Dancing Rabbit uses consensus for group decision making. It reflects the inclusiveness nature of the village we're trying to build by attempting to include each member's "piece of the truth" and make decision crafted by the needs and opinions of every participant. At a time when the national presidential campaign has risen to bombastic and frequently devisive volume, I am really appreciating the focus on reflective listening, compassion and respect for differing viewpoints, positive and productive ways to resolve conflicting views, and a desire to make decisions that work for every person in the group, not just the majority. The first two days have been packed full of information and exercises to test our skills, and in the coming days we'll begin addressing specific village topics with the guidance and consultation of our two workshop leaders. Here's to skill building and self-reflection on a group level!

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