Memphis Democrat
September 8, 2005

Rachel here, writing about a packed week at Dancing Rabbit. It has felt particularly busy for two reasons. There were a few days in there where everyone was home from their summer travels and on the farm. It was nice to catch up with folks.

In addition, this week we are hosting our experimental "Vizilla." Usually we host one to several visitors each week during the warmer months. We are experimenting with have ten visitors come at a time, and having organized events for them. We invited ten adults and two children to visit us and they are spending from 5 days to three weeks here. They've been treated to workshops on everything from the structures of Dancing Rabbit to Thomas' well-loved Play with Clay pottery class. And they have been helping out, too. I came home from school one day to see the main paths with a thick new coat of mulch. Another day I walked into the main courtyard to find it covered with Dancing Rabbit screen printed t-shirts drying on every available surface.

We've had several friends around this week, too. Dave, who went to college with Tony, Cecil and I, stopped by on his way cross country. Ex-intern Zach came through for a few days. Maddie, Emily and Craig, who have visited before, came back as guests for the holiday weekend.

I think the theme for this weekend was dancing. I knew Dave knows how to swing dance, so I asked him to dance with me in the Common House on Thursday night. We got several folks to join in and I discovered that Nathan had a hidden dancing talent. Friday night we had community dinner, followed by a fashion show/auction. We "auction" off things we no longer want by modeling them and the first person to speak up gets the item. That was followed by a dance party in Skyhouse. Then Saturday night, Tereza had organized an "Expressive Dance" event. Folks who came just danced for themselves, though there was some improvisational contact dance.

This weekend we all wished Toren a big happy birthday. He turned four, and he chose to celebrate by chewing gum, sharing magic cookie bar cake and building a rocket. Wow!

Often this time of year, people call us to harvest the fruit of their trees that they do not want. Our orchard has started to produce some, but we have more people than ever and we really appreciate when people think of us. Let us know if you want your fruit trees cleaned off.

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