Memphis Democrat
August 04, 2008

Cob reporting to you this week on the latest and greatest happenings at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, from the vantage point of my hammock where I'm catching the last of the cool breeze before the day's heat sets in. It's supposed to be a real scorcher, with a heat index of 110. Welcome to the "dog days" of summer!

The recent rain and heat has slowed physical work somewhat, but it still amazes me how much folks manage to get done in between trips to the old swimming hole or the Bay. We received nearly three inches of rain in one hour last week, prompting calls to rename West Road to something more apropos like River Road. The downpour topped off DR's ponds and cooled them noticeably. Its nice when things work out like that. All that water also facilitated cleaning out the Common House gutters and cistern, and a few rabbits took refuge from the heat down in the empty cistern scrubbing the walls and floor. The bulk of the water was pumped up to hose down the roof and the crew scrubbing up there in the hot sun.

Speaking of roof work, Thomas has made significant progress notching and installing the logs he's harvested for rafters in his permanent house. Various members of the Thomas Appreciation Society have assisted with digging and completing a drainage ditch, and various other tasks. Will it be ready for winter living? Stay tuned. Aubergine (formerly known as Liat's Bus) has acquired a stove pipe, and finished roof this week...even as work continues on the interior walls. Liat and some visiting friends lined the large windshield and rear windows with a 6" thick cob wall embedded with gold and green bottles, providing a beautifully warm stained-glass glow to the interior. Ziggy's house grew another few feet as well, inching ever closer to roof height.

Shifting from buildings to people, Dan Steinike (a long-time former rabbit) returned to Dancing Rabbit recently and liked what he saw well enough to request residency. As a new member, it was interesting to hear from someone who has been at DR and left and come back. It highlighted for me that life is challenging, no matter where you are, and finding a community of caring, supportive folks is truly a gift.

Continuing with the social scene, we held a Lughnadhsa (pronounced luNA-sah) celebration and bonfire on August 1st. This is one of the four quarters of the Celtic calendar, celebrating the first fruits of the harvest. This was also the traditional time for hand-fasting and marriages. While we didn't have any of those, we DID have plenty of s'mores and general camaraderie. Marshmallows sort of look like fruit, right?

Burgeoning gardens are beginning to deliver on their early promise, and some of us have already begun canning and pickling those excess beans and cukes. Tomatoes are starting to ripen as well, and we will be processing and canning with fervor soon. The trees are also heavily laden, and my family is eating its allotment of peaches nearly as fast as we can pick them. Soon we'll be adding these to our canning schedule as well. As we're squirreling away the tastes and smells of summer for our future delight and sustenance through the winter Augusts, we'd love to hear from you if you have a surplus of fruit hanging unused on the tree! Give us a call with your name, number, location, and how much of which fruit, and if there's sufficient interest we'll organize a picking party to harvest whatever you don't need. Peach chutney anyone?

Proving once again that rabbits are NOT of an all-work, no-play disposition, our recent "Club Night" kept folks up dancing well past midnight. The theme was feed-a-friend where many delightful snacks were provided, but you could only feed them to someone else. It was a very humorous and fun evening all around, and a great time to reconnect with each other before welcoming our next round of visitors this week.

Annie has begun showing the Planet Earth series of nature films each Sunday evening. We didn't see any Snow White Mountain Gorillas in the last episode (Ziggy, that blur was just your imagination), but breathtaking views of the Rockies, Alps, and Himalayas abounded...along with their astonishing variety of wildlife and seasonal variation. Yet another reminder of why we are working so hard to create a sustainable lifestyle here in our little corner of the planet.

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