Memphis Democrat
November 21, 2002

As it gets cold outside, everyone gets extra busy working on finishing their houses. A crew went to work putting finish plaster on the inside of the downstairs of the grain bin apartments. To make plaster we stomp it with our feet, and a few brave people did so on a frosty morning. Penn and Andra have been busily making their house more airtight and moved in this week. They say it is a little chilly but it will get warmer by the day.

While Kurt is home on the weekends he plasters on the inside of his and Alline's house. He's making the cutest little niches in the walls. Susan and Tom have been putting siding on the attic of Bella Ciao. And now that there is a battery room in Skyhouse, Cecil has been moving the batteries and electrical equipment inside. The day that he and his crew moved the 40 large 24 volt batteries, Cecil lay on the couch in the evening unable to stand up. Good work!

Thanks to the Roes for letting us use their root cellar for yet another winter. We'll build one for ourselves sooner or later. The canned good don't demand housing as loudly as the members, so they get de-prioritized. We divy up the food by month, so we're sure to have tomato sauce all winter long. We said goodbye to January through May on Saturday.

My favorite event of the week was the birds of prey program at Truman that I went to. The World Bird Sanctuary brought up a bunch of owls, hawks, falcons and a bald eagle! They were beautiful birds and some of them flew right over our heads.

One of my saddest events of the week was when Tony left to go to Washington state. He is on the board of directors of the Fellowship of Intentional Community, a non-profit that educates people about communities. They are having their biannual board meeting now. Luckily he will be returning back home next week.

Even though it is a bit cold it has been sunny. It has been perfect weather for us to go out and walk on our land. There are no ticks to bite us and all the clothes protects us from the brambles. And with no leaves on the trees it is a great time to see the birds and deer.

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