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Footprints in the Snow * Hopper's Index * New Member Bio: Gare * Lying alone in plush tufts *
Adventures in Straw Bale Home Building * Nature Corner * New Member Bio: Tamar

Footprints in the Snow

The last three months at Dancing Rabbit have seen a frenzy of construction activity in an attempt to get everyone in a warm place for the winter. We’re all pleased to say that no one is still in a tent at this point. (It’s a good thing too, ‘cause it’s getting COLD.) Cecil and Steph are both now residing in Skyhouse, Gare and Don have moved into the Grain Bin, Susan and Erik have moved into their house, Penn and Andra have moved into their cabin (after some adventures that are detailed in Andra’s article in this issue), Bob has moved into the trailer formerly known as “Alyson’s trailer”, and Alyson has temporarily moved into the Timberframe while she awaits the completion of her room in Skyhouse.

Now that Don and Cecil no longer live in the trailer that serves as our temporary common house, we’ve taken over the whole trailer as common space. In the room where Cecil once made his home, there is now a library, which is currently also getting a lot of usage as a phone booth and committee meeting space (not at the same time, though). A guest room and canned-food storage area have been fashioned out of Don’s old digs. The odd little “room” that used to serve as a guest room is now home to filing cabinets and one computer, giving us quite a bit more elbow room in the teeny office across the hall.

During the first week of December, we had the first of two parts of our annual retreat in which we discuss DR’s vision and our plans for the coming year. Alyson (with some committee help) organized and facilitated the activities for the first two days, and managed to keep most of us entertained and productive. (We like the game “A Big Wind Blows”…) On the last day of the three-day retreat, the community tackled one of the issues that has been hard for us over the last six months: whether and how to build a common house. At this point we’ve decided to begin construction on a common house this year, with the hopes of having it usable in the late fall or early winter of 2003, and having it completely finished some time in 2004. We still have a ton of decisions to make before any actual construction begins, but that’s what winter’s for, right?

Former Cattail intern and current Long Island nanny Jillian returned to Dancing Rabbit to cook yummy vegan food for Cattail during the retreat. We all enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with a good friend and cheery companion. (The outstanding cuisine didn’t hurt either.) The only bad thing about Jillian’s visit was that is was over so quickly. You can read more about Jillian in her article in this issue to get a better feel of who she is and how Dancing Rabbit has affected her.

We’ve celebrated lots of holidays over the past few months, many of them involving singing, dancing, visits with our neighbors at Sandhill, and…jigsaw puzzles. Yep, jigsaw puzzles. Some sort of puzzle-mania seems to have struck Dancing Rabbit, with every festive occasion, rainy day, sunny day, and day ending in “y” being used as an excuse to break out another puzzle. We’re plowing through puzzles faster than a snow plow through, well, snow. And speaking of snow, I’m going to go look at all the animal footprints in the snow, just like Rachel suggests in this issue’s Nature Corner.

The Rabbits at our December 2002 Winter Retreat

Footprints in the Snow * Hopper's Index * New Member Bio: Gare * Lying alone in plush tufts * Adventures in Straw Building * Lady Builder * Nature Corner * New Member Bio: Tamar