Memphis Democrat
March 16, 2009

Greetings from Dancing Rabbit! This is Alline with this week’s news.

First and foremost: On Saturday, March 28th there will be dance lessons in the Rutledge School gym. Rachel, struck seriously by the dancing bug, has arranged with some professional dance instructors to come and teach a variety of dance styles – waltz, polka, Lindy hop, foxtrot, swing – you name it, they can do it. Everyone is welcome. More details will be published here next week. So dig out those dancing shoes and get ready for a great time!

We are all still getting used to Daylight Savings Time; our springing forward was met with a bit of grumbling and difficulty awakening an hour “earlier.” Rumors of seceding from Missouri to become part of Indiana were quashed when we learned that Indiana adopted Daylight Savings Time in 2006. Now it looks as if Arizona and Hawaii are our only options. Somehow I think pretending that DR is really a tropical paradise is stretching things a bit too far, so were just learning to enjoy the sunshine, whatever time it arrives.

We started the week out with guest Alexis Zeigler presenting his Culture Change Constructive Panic Slideshow and his accompanying book entitled “Culture Change; Civil Liberty, Peak Oil and the End of Empire.” For more on Alexis and his thoughts, you can go to his Conscious Cultural Evolution website. We love when folks take the time to stop in at our little community, share their ideas, and get us thinking!

In other news, Dan and Mary Beth have returned, as has BJ. Jan is expected back any minute. Also returning to Northern Missouri: the color green. Just like those time-lapse movies we used to watch in elementary school science, there are more and more green bits popping up amongst the dead grass every single second. We’re excited that spring is truly on its way, and that our days of hauling firewood are numbered – at least for this year. Yay!

This week we had a salon (a.k.a. an informal discussion) regarding the question of how we are going to handle handicapped parking within our pedestrian village. This highlights one of the more challenging aspects of crafting a village from scratch – lots of ideas, no professional designers, a deep desire to be welcoming and accessible in addition to wanting to demonstrate an environmental paradigm shift. We are working hard to come up with solutions that will work for all.

On Saturday all gardeners and pseudo-gardeners (that would be me) had a seed swap. The idea was to bring what one had to share, and perhaps pick up a few varieties that were needed (or merely dreamed of). Not knowing what to expect, I packed up a humble little box with my 20 or so seed packets. When I arrived at the Community Building, there was just Alyssa (who had fewer packets than I) and Tereza, who came with lists, a file box (she is a Virgo, after all), and a delightful assortment of seeds. Alyson walked in next with a plastic grocery bag stuffed full; then came Cob with armloads of boxes, his dozens and dozens of seed packets lined up neatly, alphabetized. Dan came in last, upping the ante to hilarious proportions: two five-gallon buckets filled with seeds. He said, with a grin, that he was cutting down on the varieties of vegetables he’s growing this year. Tony, Ted, Tamar and Sara were also there, and at times it sounded like a weird poker game – do you have any okra? Great. I’ll raise you some Brandywine tomatoes. From the looks of it it’s going to be a great garden year.

Also in this week’s vegetable news, a group from Rutledge, Memphis and Gorin are hard at work planning weekly Farmer’s Markets in both Rutledge and Memphis. Anticipated opening dates are sometime in June. I am happy just imagining the abundance of farm-fresh heirloom veggies that will soon be available.

We continue to have Song Circle each Wednesday, amiably hosted by Tereza. Our repertoire of songs is growing, and it is lovely to spend time in song rather than talking, talking, talking.

Last but not least, the Milkweed Mercantile celebrated the arrival of sheet rock this week – things are really progressing, and we might actually open before 2015. A big shout of gratitude to Cob, Ziggy, Tony, Bear, Jacob, French and Liat, who all came out to help unload. Thanks also to Becca, Aaron, Jesse and Derek from Hopkins Lumber.

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