Below are my notes from my trip to Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Rutledge, Missouri in February of 2001. These guys are great folks, and the trip was a lot of fun.
Saturday, Feb. 10, 2001
I travelled across the great flatlands of Indiana and Southern Illinois, catching an amazing sunset just outside of Springfield, Ill. The land was so flat & open around the interstate that you could see for miles. I bought bananas and apples as sort of a gift at a discount grocery in Springfield.
Sunday
I spent the night west of Springfield in Jacksonville, Ill. I left the fruit in the car overnight, and it froze and turned black. It was freaking cold and bleak in this part of the country.
I was again amazed when I left Illinois and entered Missouri. The hills began almost immediately as I passed through Quincy, Ill and crossed the river into Missouri. The roads are so sparse in Missouri that they simply have letters for names. I drove down 'K' through farmland on rolling hills to arrive at 'M'.
The Rabbits live on their property in cabins and houses that they've built, but the first structure that I see is a mobile home with a sign across the street from it that proclaims 'Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage'. I am tired from my journey and a bit nervous about meeting these folks; somehow, seeing the trailor calms me - a sort of let-down/calming to earth sensation. I park my car, go inside and say hello.
The Rabbits are really friendly, and greet me with genuine warmth. The trailor, as it turns out, is their 'common space', the place to hang out while their more permanent common space is under construction.
My visitor liason, Kurt, gives me a tour of the eco-village. The village is an impressive collection of houses that are built from straw bales and re-used wood. They utilize solar panels for electricity, and are going to be using rainwater-catchmnent for their household water needs. It is a weird mix of medieval village meets science fiction. Except for the solar panel arrays and equipment, they collect used wood and supplies from which they are building the village. The walls of the buildings are made from mud plaster, using a mixture that they are perfecting with each try. Even the foundation of some of the buildings now use a clay/mud mixture.
Monday
It is so cold here! Missouri is stark in winter. Nothing but pastureland and farmland, appearing barren and totally isolated. I hang out around the trailor, read, and talk with folks.
Dinner: Cecil cooks Ethiopian! Injera(bread), Yemisir Alich'a(split lentils), Yekik Alich'a(mild split pea soup)
Tuesday
After the great meal last night, my system feels much better. I slept great; get up and started a fire in heater, and made oatmeal. Today is going to be a great day!
I spend much of the day in the trailor reading and hanging out. I'm supposed to help out with firewood collection tomorrow, and am looking forward to getting out and getting some exercise.
Dinner: Pizza! and 'Boys Don't Cry' on Kurt and Alline's VCR! What a trip to see a TV and VCR in a solar-powered, straw-bale home.
Wednesday
Rain and wood loading - worked w/ Don. Don and I sort and load firewood from a scrap pile purchased and dumped on the property. We sort big pieces to go to the trailor for immediate use, and small pieces to be stacked elsewhere.
Don is one of Dancing Rabbits' first 'employees'. He was hired by the community to be responsible for all of the group's gardening. In a community that is trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, that's a big responsibility!
That night, Jeffrey cooked saurkraut soup & nutbread & sweet potatoes. Great stuff, but I think that it gave me serious gastro problems .
Thursday
- wood loading with Kurt from pallet factory
- Dinner: Jess makes Tempeh 'Tuna Salad' w/out tuna (good stuff) & wacky cake and leftover soup and bread
- Dancing in the timber frame
- change out Humanure toilet (didn't have to clean the buckets!)
Friday
I ride with Alline in one of the Rabbits' 2 biodiesal fueled vehicles to Sandhill, a nearby community where she works for the Federation of Intentional Communities (FIC) as office-worker and mainter of the FIC's bookstore. She gives me a great tour of Sandhill, an impressive farm/intentional community that is some 25 years old. Afterwords, I get free reign to explore the bookstore and back issues of Communities magazine - very cool. After spending way to much money on books, I hike back the 3 miles back to Dancing Rabbit in 15 degree cold.
Saturday
I get a chance in the evening to have a great talk with Tony, one of the founding members of Dancing Rabbit. We have a chance to discuss social and political type stuff, and I realize that ironically, I would have more freedom to live my life the way that I wanted in a well-organized consensus based group, rather than living alone in contemporary, mainstream America being forced to live and do things that I didn't believe in. Odd thing for an individualist to realize! The beauty of the situation would be that I would choose to live in a hypothetical group that agreed with my beliefs, as opposed to passively living in commercial America where I have less choice.
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2001
I drive back to my home in Ohio, filled with many good thoughts and great food.
Intentional Community Bookstore