Memphis Democrat
November 10, 2005

Rachel here reporting on an unseasonably warm week in early November. I feel like we have been given an extraordinary gift of an extended fall, with warm enough weather to really get outside and enjoy the colors and other changes. The harvest from the gardens has been extended and we are still getting beautiful salads from Ironweed.

Sandhill had lots of extra chinese cabbage and Ironweed grew lots of daikon radishes. Mix those together with some hot peppers (also abundant) and you've got the korean dish kimchi! Amy chopped and mixed over at Skyhouse and Ted has been doing the same down at Bluestem. It will be a spicy winter.

Ted has also been busy with the other Ironweed folks finishing the cob around the stove in his and Sara's house. They have finally sealed up the ceiling and are looking forward to a warmer winter.

We had many lovely guests this week. Sunshine, Stephen and their new baby Xavier were our last visitors of the season. Sunshine and Stephen are excellent musicians and it was unusually common to hear the banjo and fiddle playing and voices rising in song in the common house. Xavier was so cute, we discussed kidnapping him but his parents were not amenable to the idea.

Cecil's parents came to visit for a few days. They brought some of Cecil's childhood pictures and it was a blast to see Cecil playing with a frisbee even as a little tot. They also met with the folks here who formed a cooperative business called Thorntree. Thorntree is working with Cecil's aunt, setting up and running the mail order side of her antique print business. It's exciting to have a new business venture starting up. Cecil left with his folks for some east coast adventures. Tony also left this week to attend some meetings in California at another community called Los Angeles Ecovillage.

We were expecting a visit from former resident, Trish and her friend Julie. But boy, was I surprised when she showed up with intern from 2000, Emily, and her friend Melissa. We haven't seen Emily in a few years and it was great fun to see them all. We pulled together an impromptu potluck of folks who wanted to catch up, and then stayed up late talking with our guests.

With all the excitement, it still feels like things are starting to wind down. I look forward to the coming calmer and cozier winter. But it doesn't mean I'm not glad to have this beautiful fall.

Back to list of Memphis Democrat Columns