Memphis Democrat
August 10, 2008

Ted here at Dancing Rabbit with this week's update.

We're in the midst of the most pleasant stretch of August weather I can recall here in five years of residence, with sunny days in the low-to-mid 80's and nights that actually require a light blanket for part of the night. After witnessing the whitewater river that flowed past Ironweed kitchen for an hour during the deluge Cob mentioned last week (which washed away much of the erosion control work I'd just finished at the time), I've been feeling just fine about a hiatus in precipitation. The cool nights mean that we still have a full roof washer full of dew each morning though, which keeps our rain barrel topped up.

Work continues apace at no fewer than seven construction sites in the village, making this one of the most construction-oriented years I've witnessed thus far. Annie started her first course of cob wall at the "lily pad", the site of a round grain bin that was sold and removed from the property in Dancing Rabbit's early days, since which time it has been thought of as the potential site for a variety of new structures. She's building a cob-walled massage studio in which to practice her [very popular among Rabbits] skills. Upward!

Jennifer took some time off from work this week to welcome her children Cynder and Torren home from some time spent in Oklahoma with their dad, and then all three promptly departed for points east to see Rowan at his camp in Vermont and spend some time in New York.

Thomas and Ali, who've gotten back to work on Thomas's timber structure recently, hosted a "rubble rumble" early in the week. Thomas years ago took on a warren on which had been dumped the remains of a structure bulldozed in Rutledge. The object of the work party was to get a leg up on the process of sifting through the pile: the whole bricks are separated out for use later in construction; the broken bits of mostly rock and brick are dumped into the building's foundation trench to form a permeable foundation element; and the soil, which is thought to contain enough toxins from the dozed house's components to make it unsuitable for gardening, is stockpiled at the edge of our property for export to a suitable location once the pile has been erased. Part two of the Rubble Rumble is expected this week in the form of a working birthday party for Thomas and Ali, who both celebrate natal days this week. Music and snacks are promised, and we expect the pile to be dealt with completely.

Ironweed saw the installation of its first finish plaster, rendering the cooking part of the kitchen into a completed-looking facade replete with colored glass and tile mosaics. In keeping with the cracked look we achieved with our lower earthen floor, our first plaster batches had too much clay and cracked in places. Most of it looks like "character", as though the building has been there for a hundred years, but some are significant, and we're experimenting with various re-surfacing techniques even as we've refined the plaster mix to one that doesn't crack at all (and been reminded to try a test-patch of plaster every time we start plaster work again). After four years, it is extremely gratifying to see our finished walls, cracks and all. Sadly we said goodbye to our work exchanger Travis, who for the past month had been a tireless helper, putting in long hours, skipping meals, and generally overachieving as though he'd already spent years on the project himself. We wish him well on his future endeavors, which we hope will include returning to Dancing Rabbit to live.

On the other side of that equation, Liat's new work exchanger Rachel arrived this week to help on Aubergine's continuing evolution. Rachel hails from Stone Soup, an intentional community in Chicago, and has so far shown herself to be right at home here.

Short-term folks have always added an important element of fresh energy and spontaneity to DR's culture, and (as a former intern and resident myself) I'm pleased to see the tradition continuing. Ziggy will also welcome a couple of new wexers (Work EXchangERS) this coming week, after hosting Sandhill's newest member Apple as a wexer on his cob hut for a week ending last week. Apple has incidentally been one of the stalwarts this year behind the ongoing ultimate frisbee scene here at DR, in a year when DR, despite its growing numbers, has failed to field enough players to make a game most of the time, so we were pleased to host her in our midst. A childcare-trading scheme between Alyssa and Sara has lately also allowed Alyssa to make it to Saturday games-- go cooperation!

We had expected this past week to be a heavily visitor-focused week as our fourth visitor session began this week; as it happened, though, all but two of the ten visitors expected failed to arrive, so we slowly adjusted back to a more-or-less normal schedule, with our visitors Matt and Megan navigating a less-regimented visitor scene reminiscent of years past, when we only hosted one or two visitor entities at a time.

Tereza was spotted in her garden this week with some new gardening gear (apron, gloves, etc.) imbued with pyrethrine, a naturally-derived insecticide (a chemical constituent found in some chrysanthemum family plants, I think), and reported that the insects did, in fact, seem to be leaving her alone more than usual. Tom and Tereza's garden yearly proves to be a productive, verdant place, so we're always excited to see what they bring in.

Tom and Bear wrapped up several weeks worth of overnight trips to a deconstruction site in Kirksville, coming home with a final trailer load of lumber and other building materials, and sadly also two nail punctures in Bear's foot. He's checking into when he last had a tetanus booster, and I'm wondering whether we need to be investing in steel heels as well as toes in our work boots...

Founding member Rachel, who is on a hiatus from DR work this year, departed for seven weeks worth of various work and adventuring centered around the San Francisco area, and we'll look forward to hearing updates on what she's up to.

Sparky returned to us from a couple weeks of travels, seeming pleased with Tamar's work on Pondview in her absence. The renovation continues apace, with Tamar planning to lead light-clay-straw insulation installation this week.

Finally I will leave you with an anecdote courtesy of my daughter Aurelia. Since January she has been rapidly learning to speak (she turned two June 30), and every day seems to add more nuanced language to her repertoire. When Sara went home to pick her up as she awoke from a nap one afternoon this week, Aurelia (who is breast-fed) reportedly exclaimed, "I want some mama milk, dude!", reminding us (yet again) how sponge-like toddlers learning to speak can be...

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