Memphis Democrat
November 20, 2003

Hi everyone. This is Alline sitting in for Rachel, who is busy getting ready for the big nation-wide Christmas Bird Count on December 13th..

On Monday our week started out with a bang (literally) with Liberty’s 21st birthday. Liberty is a work exchanger who has been here for the summer to help us build the common house. As she’s become like one of the family, she decided to continue the grand Dancing Rabbit tradition of a birthday spectacle. Under a starry sky the “Great Libertini,” ably assisted by Andra, Jacque and Cecil, performed a feat of dazzling brilliance. She was able to escape from a grain bin even after she’d been bound hand-and-foot (and covered with a blanket so we couldn’t tell it was really Jacque being led into the grain bin). Then, in a burst of fireworks, Liberty appeared from the exact opposite direction. We were all amazed and left wondering, “how did she do THAT?”

All is not fun and games here at Dancing Rabbit, however. Working furiously (but enthusiastically), Ted and Sara have had crew of up to seven people pounding away on their home. Walls are going up, windows are being installed, and soon they’ll be warm and cozy. Bluestem Eating co-op purchased the wind generator that formerly ran the fridge in the trailer, and set it up by their building. As the days lately have been cloudy and windy, they’ll really benefit from this secondary energy option! The sheet rock is FINALLY done in the Common House – now it’s on to taping and painting. Before the Common House Crew put up the last sheet though, Penn had the fabulous idea of putting a time capsule in the wall. I put together a few items (a copy of the Memphis Democrat, two Dancing Rabbit newsletters and a brochure, the current TIME magazine, one of Steph’s zines, three of the new state quarters, Kurt’s expired driver’s license, a couple of 37-cent stamps, recipes for Dancing Rabbit specialties, and anything else I could think of that might be at all interesting in 50 years and could fit in a 3” x 16” area. I also jotted down a list of everyone who is here at DR, their age, occupation and home town. The Common House crew who were around signed the document (Tamar, Kurt, Kent, Dan, Steph, Jillian and Penn). It was fun wondering what the world would be like in 50 years – will DR still be here? What will the technology be like? I’ll be 96 when we open the capsule up in 2053…

Jacque, who is a teacher, has been substitute teaching in Gorin. She’s really missed teaching and is SO happy to be back at it. She’s also teaching business English to students over the phone. The company she works for specializes in providing English practice for business people in other countries. Rather than sending the employees to English school, the employers simply pay for their employees to have one or two English conversations each week – usually while on the job. This is where Jacque comes in. Recently she’s been talking with French folks. Oh la la!

Alyson’s parents, Rich and Gaelyn visited for four days and it was fun getting to know them a bit. Alyson made sure they got the Red Carpet treatment – everything from a personal tour of the Rutledge School with the always-charming Bob Hunolt to tea with the Milkweeds. And it’s always enlightening to have the opportunity to see Dancing Rabbit through the fresh eyes of visitors. They told us that before they visited they assumed that we were just a bunch of “kids” playing around until we went somewhere else to do something serious with our lives. It was a pleasure to hear the two of them talk about how impressed they are by the scope of our commitment and what we have accomplished (and are hoping to accomplish in the future).

New residents Stephanie and Arjen (he’s from the Netherlands and his name is pronounced “Ar-ee-an”) have unpacked and made of home of the Timberframe. What a transformation! It’s homey and beautiful now. Susan and Erik returned from a trip to visit family in California. Susan brought back pomegranates from her mom’s tree for us all – what a treat! Laura, who came last spring as a work exchanger and will return next spring as a member, is getting ready to leave for the winter. We’re sad, but she created a beautiful binder with watercolor illustrations and tons of information on wild edibles around Dancing Rabbit, which will help us remember her.

Friday night we had one of our (in)famous No Talent Shows. We’re very easy to entertain, and lack of talent has never prevented a show here at DR. All the acts were fantastic, and the audience (and actually, the performers, too) laughed themselves silly.

Saturday evening Kent and MaryJo Kattelman of Newark invited us all to a party at their house. Nine Rabbits went in our two Jettas, and Alline and Kurt were already there for the weekend. We met some wonderful new people from Bethel and Canton and had very fun conversations and great food. Unfortunately, the Red Jetta developed a mechanical problem on the way home, and all nine Rabbits shoe-horned themselves into the Black Jetta. An amazing sight, to be sure. Piling out they looked like one of those clown cars at the circus. It’s a pleasure to live with so many good sports.

Tony’s parents arrived Sunday afternoon for a short visit – sitting at my desk here I could see the three of them traipsing around DR on a tour of all that has changed since their last visit. Tony is always glad to have them come, regardless of how quick the trip!

That’s more than enough for now. We are not giving tours again until spring, but you can read more about Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage on our website at www.dancingrabbit.org.

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