Memphis Democrat
November 25, 2008

Hello again from Ted at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in ever-colder northeast Missouri.

The colder weather is sure sign of the quieter time of year. One by one, members start trickling away for varying lengths of time to visit family and friends for various holidays, and we probably won't have everyone on farm again at the same time until our annual retreat in February.

There is always at least a skeleton crew on hand, however. This year Sara and Aurelia and I are staying home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then departing for a trip to Chicago and the East Coast, respectively, to see our families. We won't be alone, though. As Dancing Rabbit grows, the definition of skeleton crew seems to change as well, and the number staying home will likely be just right for some cozy cooperative meals, board games, and puzzles. And just as we once experienced, the departure of some members means others who don't yet have their own place are offered a transient place to live as a housesitter.

There were still a handful of events this week. Dan and Mary Beth hosted a housewarming party in Dan's house Monday night. With the interior plastered and the exterior sided, it is just about complete, and though the footprint of the house is only maybe 10 or 12 feet square (with a full loft), at one point there were probably nearly twenty of us packed in there enjoying snacks, drinks including their "doodleberry" wine from last summer (I heard it had at least six kinds of summer berries in it), conversation, and the variety of interesting books on the shelves. One of the nice things about living in small houses is that the heat people make just being alive is enough to modify the temperature. It doesn't hurt that we're used to small houses around here, and the compromises on personal space one makes to fit ten or more people into one tiny room!

Liat, Ziggy, Jennifer, Cynder and Toren all departed for varying lengths of time this week. Ziggy spent a few days tidying up around his house and declared the end of his work season. He made impressive work of his cob house this year, with the roof on and waterproofed and the earthen subfloor in place. He'll no doubt be living in style by midsummer next year. Always one to support the team effort, Ziggy also joined a few of us at Skyhouse to watch the first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy Tuesday night even though the director's cut is four hours long and he had to leave for the Quincy train at 4:30am. The second movie came later in the week and was better attended and shown in the common house, where the power system had finally recovered from the extended weeks of grey days.

Tamar and I spent a couple days digging a trench between Ironweed kitchen and Sara's and my house, and then laying conduit and heavy electrical lines between the two in preparation for installing one of our sets of solar panels on the kitchen roof at long last. It also paves the way for us to move our shared power system out of our house and into the kitchen, its intended home. After five years of living in close quarters with the hum of the inverter, Sara and I are looking forward to saying goodbye to it.

Thomas kept plugging away on his new house, installing the final rafters and then purlins across them to support the heavy living roof planned for it. The rafters are mostly raw black locust poles harvested some years ago from our neighbor Joe Neese's land, and the purlins are oak 2x4s from a house Bear deconstructed in Rutledge, so the work involved plenty of trimming and letting-in with Thomas's impressive array of chisels, saws, and gouges to make it all fit.

Jeff is now living in his earthbag dome, which he reports is quite a lot warmer than his tent even though it doesn't have a working stove yet. Being below ground level, it benefits from the ambient earth temperature of 45 degrees or so. He and Matt ceased work on building up the walls for the season and have nearly installed a temporary roof, so once Jeff finishes the (4.5' tall) door for the building, he'll be well set. I can't help noticing the similarities between his dwelling and those of the hobbits in the movie...

The Mercantile took delivery of a mess of drywall and started installing it, so progress continues there as well, helped along by the newly installed fireplace which I observed quietly (and warmly) burning one afternoon. Despite the weather, Kurt's hardy crew of plasterers have been continuing their work as well, and the progress has been impressive. The Milkweeds hosted a very warm gathering at their house the previous Sunday evening to showcase some of their array of products just in time for many of us to make a few gift purchases for the upcoming holidays. I can't wait to see all their wares displayed in their new Mercantile home.

Cheers to all you readers out there, and thanks for reading!

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