Memphis Democrat
December 18, 2003

Hi everyone. This is Alline filling in for Rachel, who was last seen gliding by on her cross-country skies while we THOUGHT she was studying for finals - HA!

The big news for this week is that we held the first part of our annual retreat - it was GREAT to have everyone here "on the farm." We had three days of meetings in our new Common House. While the floors were still covered with tarps and the final paint still not applied, it was VERY exciting to meet in a building where our dreams have become reality.

We met Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and took Saturday off. Alyson, Bob C. and Sara did a terrific job of organizing the retreat, Penn and anonymous (to me) others provided snacks (Stephanie brought brownies!), and everyone else took turns facilitating the meetings, taking notes, fire tending, keeping the teapot full, setting up the chairs, etc.

During our numerous sessions we discussed our decision-making process (is it still working? do we want to try something other than consensus?), our goals for 2004 (both personal and for Dancing Rabbit), and lots and lots of Common House logistics. There is so much to be done - from the initial decorating to the maintenance of all its systems, we'vie got to figure it all out.

Just like in any town, city-level buildings have to be maintained. No one person is responsible for the Common House because it's owned by Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, Inc. This is a first for us, as most of our other buildings are privately owned. While solar energy is "free," it's not cheap nor is it care-free. And we can't call the power company when something goes wrong because the power company is US. We'll be using water from our cistern which will be gathered from rainwater off of the roof, which means that someone will have to be in charge of monitoring the water level and water quality. And if we hire someone to do it, we'll have to tax ourselves! You can see how this would involve a lot of discussion, committee work and thought.

It wasn't all brain strain, though. We spent an hour of our retreat having a work party. Often this involves more work than party, but when a bunch of Rabbits get together, hilarity usually ensues. In keeping with our covenant requiring us to use either locally- or sustainably-harvested wood, much of our lumber for the Common House came from oak trees that were either damaged by ice storms last winter or were leftover portions of oaks originally harvested for barrel staves. Kent Kattelman hauled all the slab wood here to DR, and our work party sawed, chopped and stacked a big pile of firewood. Rachel and Tony worked the chainsaws while Erik, Ted and Tom assisted. Stephanie, Bob R. ("Big Bob"), Jeffrey, Cecil and Kurt showed off their skills with axes and mauls. Penn and Alyson scurried back and forth bringing wheelbarrows full of cut slabs for the splitters to do their work, and the rest of us stacked wood under the skillful guidance of Andra and Dan. Bob C. ("little Bob") supervised and took photos.

Sunday morning before the last session began, an intrepid group of sledding fanatics went out to 'Vista de la Moo' and plowed through all the gorgeous powder. Tamar, Steph, Stephanie, Ted and Sara were accompanied enthusiastically by our three dogs. All returned exhausted but with big, big smiles (yep, even the dogs).

In other news, Alyson and Chad were married in a small ceremony on Saturday evening at Sandhill Farm. Stan officiated, Cedar and Sol were the witnesses, Cecil and Tamar performed a musical piece written especially for the occasion, and Jacque was there just because she's fabulous. Congratulations!

Now that the retreat is over, many Rabbits are gearing up for travel and visiting friends and family for the holidays. We send our heartfelt holiday good wishes to all of you, whether you celebrate Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or nothing at all.

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