Memphis Democrat
August 12, 2004

The weather has been perfect in so many ways, but especially for solar dehydrating. We have several little contraptions that use the heat of the sun to dry food for winter. In fact, Chad just built a whole herd of them that are scattered facing the sun around his tent. The sunny, low-humidity days are perfect for drying all those tomatoes that are ripening. Another favorite tomato preservation method around here is Russian pickled tomatoes. Alyson brought back the recipe from when she was over there and they are delicious. They also look beautiful suspended whole in brine in the canning jars.

We had so many old friends and family visit this week it was kind of a whirlwind. Chris, who spent much of the fall helping Ted and Sara build their house, visited for a few days from Columbia. An old friend of Cecil's from college, John, visited on his way moving to Chicago to teach at a university there. Lonnie and Valerie are friends working on an ecovillage project in Fairfield, IA and they came to say hello. We were also glad to welcome to Laura's parents, all the way from Ohio.

Sara and Tereza packed up a rental car and left for Michigan (with a pit stop in Chicago to see Sara's family). They are going to a weeklong music festival way up north, and are going to give a workshop there about Dancing Rabbit.

Tai Chi is an ancient form of Chinese exercise that looks like a very slow martial art. When Tony and I were in China, the public squares would be filled with large groups of elderly people performing the exercise in unison. Solrey has been practicing Tai Chi for many years and is starting a weekly lesson here.

Ingrid organized a night of Wine and Words. Folks filled the library and lit candles. There they read aloud the written word, both original and published.

Louise and Allen Fitzgerald called, saying they had more vegetables than they could eat. Stefanie and Penn went over to pick cucumbers and greenbeans. They really enjoyed the garden and the tour around the place, and the yummy vegetable when they got home. Thanks!

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