Memphis Democrat
March 30, 2009

There is a notable feeling around the village lately. It is the feeling thatarises when the building and growing season we have anxiously awaited formonths is suddenly upon us. In my frequent passing through the common house,I overhear more and more chatter about timbers and strawbales, seed startsand greenhouses and it occurs to me that the chaotic song and dance we callspring has arrived.

Mary Beth here, catching you up on this weeks Dancing Rabbit news.

As is typical of a Missouri spring, these past weeks seem to be made up ofalternating days of summer and winter. It is hardly the smooth transition Ialways remember it being, though birds and flowers are often involved.Because of my short memory for such things, I am frequently taken off guardwhen after a string of sunny, 70 degree days... it snows.

But lucky for us, or rather, lucky for Ironweed Sub-community, the weatherheld off long enough this week to have a wood pile moving work party. Andwhat a work party it was! To the soundtrack of some poppy eighties musicthere were around twenty rabbits who showed up for the life size game ofpick up sticks. Because of our upcoming roads project, the accumulated pileshad to be moved at least ten feet back from where they were to make way forthe gravel that will eventually be followed by grassy pavers that are goingto replace our existing roads. For those of you wondering, grassy pavers arean road building alternative to gravel or concrete. They are honey comb likesheets of recycled plastic that allow grass to grow on roadways, which notonly looks pretty, but produces far less runoff than a paved road.

I haven't caught sight of Amy and Juan since the 18th when little baby Borlawas born, but in my imagination, they are spending the days cozied up intheir room, admiring there son and enjoying the shift from couple to family.And though I haven't seen Juan, Amy, or Jolyon just yet, I have seen a happygrandparent or two pass in and out of Skyhouse, always grinning.

One of DR's favorite 'always there to lend a helping hand' residents, Tim,has been hard at work this week, contributing his time to a few projectsthat needed attention. As an unfortunate result of the icy winter, a few ofthe bricks on the front porch of the Common House shattered, leaving holesand dusty red gravel in their place. Tim spent several days carefullyreplacing them and did quite a beautiful job. And word has it that Tim isalso making improvements in our recycling area, a place that despite itsbeing used by everyone in the community, generally does not get a lot oflove. Thanks Tim and keep up the good work!

In related news, Liat and I have made one of our goals for the season toimprove the aesthetics of Dancing Rabbit. Last week we began our search fornatural materials, as well as junk, to use in some found objects mobiles.This week, Ziggy and Liat set out to make some improvements in the computerroom of the Common House. With the help of Jeff and I, and some subtleredecorating, a major change in the feel of the room has taken place. Ourplans for the coming weeks include making signs to help new folks navigatetheir way through the village, guerrilla flower planting, putting togethervarious pretty things to hang from trees, and creating a road sign where ourcurrently unlabeled gravel road meets the pavement.

Last weekend, Rachel arranged to have a couple of dance instructors givelessons in a wide variety of dance styles in the old Rutledge school house.From Folk to Polka, Salsa to Swing, our lovely guest teachers Gunter andKorah spent Friday night, most of Saturday, and early Sunday showing us somesteps. They were great teachers and a lot of fun to boot.

Dancing Rabbit is going to make its debut on the Food Network this Saturday.The filming for the episode entitled “My Life in Food: Living off the Land”was done last summer and we have been patiently awaiting its airing eversince. It will be start at 5:30 Central/6:30 Eastern time this Saturday,March 4th. In anticipation for the extra traffic that this nationalbroadcast will bring to our website, the webteam has been hard at work thisweek making improvements to the existing site.

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