Memphis Democrat
March 23, 2009

Will March showers bring April flowers? Cob reporting live from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, on the occasion of SPRING! What a glorious week we had with plentiful sunshine and warm breezes to carry us through the daily work of building our homes, gardens, and village. Today's torrential downpour has shifted most of the activity back indoors, though a few soggy souls are out in the rain shifting a few large piles of firewood off the right-of-way for the pending road construction project. Thankfully it's my turn to write this column, so I have a good excuse to stay warm & dry!

Spring is definitely here, as new things are arriving on a daily basis. Nicely composted dirt for the grassy-paver section of the new road, bird nests in unexpected places, grape vines and trees to plant, Jolyon Borla, red-wing blackbirds, merchandise for the Milkweed Mercantile store (www.milkweedmercantile.com), and...what? Yes, our newest bunny arrived late last week with quiet fanfare and much jostling to be the first to bring a meal to the proud parents. Early results indicate Jolyon's likely nickname will be "Old Man". Congratulations to Amy and Juan...your adventures are just beginning!

Meanwhile the first rhubarb leaves are just beginning to poke out of the ground, and it's far too early for asparagus, but little pink, orange, and other colored flags have sprouted all over Dancing Rabbit marking roads, drainage swales, and culverts. The Land Use Planning & Policy committee has been busy measuring, marking, and checking to ensure that emergency vehicles and our truck/trailer will be able to negotiate all the turns and intersections in our village. Our weekly business meetings have also turned to roads-related questions, including permanent parking, where and how to place accessible parking spaces, and how to accommodate ongoing construction deliveries while the roads are temporarily reduced to muddy trenches. Anticipation is running high, both excitement for finished roads and of the inevitable inconveniences of such a large scale endeavor. Many folks have taken advantage of the good weather to stock up on gravel and sand for their own building projects...much to Zane and Aurelia's delight. It's worth attending a dump truck unloading just to witness the delight on their faces, and to have them explain what's going on. Big! Truck! Dump! Priceless!

In related news, a remarkable number of rabbits responded to our Land Management Team's call for a Rubble Rally to cart chunks of rock, urbanite, and broken concrete block out to the Bay of Ralph (formerly known as the new pond) to remediate some erosion where the Bay overflow pipe leads into a draw. Our procession of carts and wheelbarrows made two round trips in under an hour, and this week's rain will allow us to see if more rubble is really required. Our little rabbits appeared to derive just as much enjoyment from watching smaller loads getting dumped by hand, and by riding back in the empty carts. Everyone's carts have been busy...Thomas has resumed work on his house, Ziggy has applied the finish plaster to the exterior of his house and worked with Tamar to add a wonderful mosaic as well. Liat continues to work on Aubergine, berming the north side and adding a greenhouse on the south, Ted and Sara have submitted plans for an addition to their house, and warren siting is anticipating a number of new requests over the coming months.

Meadow and I spent several days planting many blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, plum, and grape vines, trees, and bushes. Busting the prairie sod left my feet feeling bruised, and I am happy to put the shovel aside for a few days to focus on getting more seedlings started. Digging, planting, and mulching was hard work, but we're already feeling a warm glow thinking about all the wonderful fruit we'll have to share and enjoy in the years ahead. Perhaps the best part of this effort was relaxing in the shade of the straw bale with my love, eating Alyson's homemade rye bread with a hunk of not-too-fresh cheese, and soaking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the world around us. I'd like to leave you this week with the best passage ever written about picnics, penned by the estimable James Michener for his nonfiction masterpiece Iberia.

"I have never bothered much about whether or not people will remember me when I am dead; but I am sure that as long as my generation lives, in various parts of the world someone will pause now and then to reflect, 'Wasn't that a great picnic we had that day with Michener?' I have lured my friends into some extraordinary picnics, for I hold with the French that to eat out of doors in congenial surroundings is sensible: in Afghanistan we ate high on a hill outside Kabul and watched as tribesmen moved in to attack the city; at Edfu along the Nile we spread our blankets inside that most serene of Egypt's temples; in Bali we picnicked on the terraces and in Tahiti by the waterfalls; and if tomorrow someone were to suggest that we picnic in a snowstorm, I'd go along, for of this world one never sees enough and to dine in harmony with nature is one of the gentlest and loveliest things we can do. Picnics are the apex of sensible living and the traveler who does not so explore the land through which he travels ought better to stay at home."

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