Memphis Democrat
November 18, 2004

Dan blew recycled cellulose insulation into the walls of his new house, as well as having gutters installed. The Common House's new back porch, home of our hot-water boiler, was insulated with a similar material. And I think the drywall on the porch has all been mudded and taped, too. At our Sunday meeting yesterday, Amy thanked everyone who had anything to do with the hot water, she was enjoying the hot showers and hot dishwater in our Common House so much. I hear the floors in the building will be warm soon, too, as the water circulating through the radiant tubing heats up the concrete slab.

The most amusing insulation installation I witnessed was Ironweed's. They are using a combination of wool and recycled cellulose to insulate their new kitchen. The unusual part is that they're stuffing this insulation into huge handsewn vessels that look like down comforters for a family of giants. Then they'll put these things up on top of their rafters before putting the roof on. I was passing by the outdoor kitchen one evening this week when I saw what appeared to be three monsters riding some kind of bucking beast. It was Ted, Sara, and Tamar, wearing respirators and covered in a dusting of grey cellulose fibers, wrestling with the blower to get the insulation evenly distributed along the channels of the huge quilts. I took a few photos of them when I was done laughing.

We said good-bye to Tereza and Tom this week, as they left for a winter of hot-tubbing, oops, I mean maintenance work, in Arizona. They're being employed as caretakers at a hot springs. They finally hit the road on Saturday morning, leaving in the truck and camper that Susan and Erik arrived in. We'll miss them and look forward to their return in the spring.

Jeffrey spent much of the week at meetings at a community in southern Missouri called East Wind. He's the Skyhouse delegate to the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, an organization that supports and promotes income-sharing communities. Such communities, like Skyhouse, share income and expenses, with all members having equal access to the community's assets. The FEC delegates are gathering this week at East Wind to make some organizational decisions.

Speaking of organizational decisions, the DR board met here this weekend. Though our board is currently on the small side, we're really fortunate to have such people as Jacob, Jess, and Dave helping watch over the organization, and we get a lot done when we're all together. We had a packed day of discussions of topics like the role of the board, the health of the community, and a couple of membership issues. Then we adjourned and had a really fun potluck dinner with the members and residents, and played music and sang until late in the evening.

And hey, DR has a new member! At our Sunday meeting we accepted Suzanne Schroedl to come in the spring. She visited a while back, and has been in steady contact with the group and with individuals here about how it might be for her to live here. She finally felt the time was right for her to move here, and we readily accepted her. I can't wait for her to arrive.

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