Memphis Democrat
September 20, 2001

We've been living with abundance. We have nearly all the melons we can eat and I'm in heaven. The gardeners harvested several 5 gallon buckets full of green beans and then a crew made a huge batch of green bean dill pickles. Chris Feeney let us pick apples from his trees in Memphis and we made many quarts of applesauce. Then Joe Neese alerted us to some plums that needed picking and we've enjoyed them in pies, dumplings and just straight.

We've also had a social abundance. Our numbers have been lower the last month or so, with interns leaving and people traveling. But many have returned from their travels: Rainbow from her trip to visit friends out east, and Mark and Megan from their trip to visit friends out west. Dan Steinicke, an old friend and frequent visitor from CA came by for a week. Two visitors who coincidentally both go to Stanford University are here for the week as well. Peter is visiting communities and Lauren has a grant to interview communities to help them assess their level of sustainability.

Then to top it all off, three new interns arrived. Shannon is from London, Ontario and will be helping with the construction, though we've already determined that she has many other creative skills as well. Danielle and Brendan came to us from Oberlin College, via a sheep farm in Connecticut, also to help with the construction.

After having what seems like a small group, it was fun to count 26 people at our regular Sunday meeting. And that doesn't include Susan and Tom, who went to Iowa for a Renewable Energy Fair for the weekend. They learned about and shared their experience with solar panels, biodiesel, and alternative construction.

Lots of traveling happens around here. One may ask how that is ecologically sustainable. One thing to remember is that there are a lot of people here and even if there are a few traveling at any one time, most of the time people are at home. Also, many of the folks who are here during the summer are a transient population, who must come and must go. But we do realize that it takes many resources to travel and we try to do it well. When we use our cars, we try to coordinate as much as possible, so that its rare that there are less than 2 or 3 people in a vehicle. We try to use public transportation when it is available. And some of us favor the train over airplanes, because they use much less fuel.

When it comes to work, it seems like its plaster season. Kurt, with the help of many others, "harled" plaster at the entire outside of the first floor of his cottage. Its looking great! Hopefully many of you will see the results during our Open House on October 6th. Mark and Megan barely unpacked from their trip before they were finishing the inside plaster on Kalen's house, which they will be living in as the weather gets cold. Kalen is apprenticing in North Carolina to become a blacksmith and was kind enough to lend out his house.

Randy from Memphis stopped by to give us some windows and doors. He also gave us a lesson in poke salad. Thanks Randy!

The rain hasn't stopped our bustle of activity. In fact, the folks who play soccer seem to welcome it. They can often been seen slipping and sliding in the wet grass. There have been a few minor injuries but soccer spirits remain high.

We discovered that Laurel has a good understanding of insects. She found a caterpillar in our outdoor kitchen, which she declared would become a black swallowtail butterfly very soon, as it was looking for a place to pupate. We put it in a terrarium and it was a chrysalis within 24 hours! We can't wait to see it emerge a butterfly.

We're looking forward to the Rutledge Fall Festival and hope to see you all there. I'm coordinating the volleyball tournament, but we need teams! If you'd like to enter a team, please give me a call at 883-5390, to sign up. And please don't miss Chicken Chip Bingo. Alline is organizing it and is very excited about it!

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is a nonprofit and a residential community that demonstrates ecological sustainability in Rutledge, MO. Please come to our Land Day on October 6. You can always reach us at 883-5511.

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