Service for the Soul: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Service for the Soul: A Dancing Rabbit Update

On Thursday mornings I run errands with Uncle Kurt. He’s been doing the Thursday morning errands for quite a while now. (“I’ve been doing it quite a while,” he said, when asked how long he’s been doing it.) “It’s one of my contributions to the community,” he added. “I also like to get to know the locals.” After 18 years living at Dancing Rabbit, Kurt is a local himself, and a trip into town with him proves to me he is a fixture in Rutledge and Memphis. T here, with an update about life at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. Why all…read more >
Recharging My Batteries: My Dancing Rabbit Experience

Recharging My Batteries: My Dancing Rabbit Experience

I didn’t know much about ecovillage life before coming to Dancing Rabbit — just the assumptions of some of my friends (like it is some kind of a hippie commune, with one of my friends expecting to see me bald by the end of the summer). Despite these unfounded stereotypes, everything else I heard sounded encouraging, but I needed to experience it myself before drawing any conclusions. I didn’t have many expectations, except that I would spend some time gardening; interact with some chickens, dogs and cats; and get to enjoy fresh produce and fresh air. It turned out to…read more >
The Rhythms of Life: A Dancing Rabbit Update

The Rhythms of Life: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Sunday morning stillness; a fresh common space (thanks to our Sunday morning clean team that swept, scrubbed, sorted, shined and all sorts of s-words to make our common house a lovely place); our WIP (Week In Preview): these are the forms in which the week seems to say hello, here at Dancing Rabbit. The steady repetition of familiar activities is one of the critical components that propels this village forward into new beginnings and endings. As the winter season leans toward its end (I wistfully say as we receive yet another few inches of snow), new things begin to emerge…read more >
Making Life Sparkle: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Making Life Sparkle: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Guess who received a whopping foot and more of snow in the past week? Guess who hit the hills, sliding on sleds? Guess where the goats are these days? Guess who got to sparkle the evening away? Answers reside below... Some Rabbits sledding on the Vista de la Moo. From left to right: Alannah, Hassan, and Ezra stuffing his face with snow. Hello-hello from the windy, frozen plains of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage! Prairie here, thankfully staying warm and toasty in the midst of all this weather. I am also grateful for the plentiful opportunities there have been to get out…read more >
The Only Constant is Change: My Dancing Rabbit Visit

The Only Constant is Change: My Dancing Rabbit Visit

By Michelle Winebarger I thought visiting Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage would be like taking a trip back in time, but once I got there, I felt like I was stepping into the future; a future where technology meets sustainability and conservation; a future where weapons and locks are not needed; a future where traditions are kept, yet new ideas are always welcome and appreciated. Solar panels sit atop many buildings, powering modern appliances from refrigerators to wifi modems, air conditioners, and coffee pots. As a community power source, there is an impressive solar panel array near the sports field, which powers…read more >
A Village of Holiday Traditions: A Dancing Rabbit Update

A Village of Holiday Traditions: A Dancing Rabbit Update

I have started to wonder how holidays differ for fellow Rabbits from the holidays we grew up with or left behind in our lives before Dancing Rabbit. “T” here, as I approach my first holiday season at DR. All ready for holiday celebrations at the Milkweed Mercantile My family celebrates Christmas. As a little kid, that meant a trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s or Bonnie and Bill’s for a couple days with all the relatives.  We almost always attended a Christmas Eve church service and sang traditional songs and hymns like “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” and “Little Drummer Boy”…read more >
Nothing Can Be Perfect: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Nothing Can Be Perfect: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Prairie and her view from Woodhenge Fear. It is a tangible feeling. It tells the birds to take flight when creatures near their perches. It encourages the crayfish (or crawdads) to take a pinch at unassuming, soft human limbs intruding upon their humble homes. It is a survival mechanism running through all living things. Just as bringing the same-charged sides of magnets together creates a kind of tension that prevents contact between them, so, too, does fear faced with an unfamiliar obstacle. Often, caught in the center of that tension we only try to escape: we run. The first humans…read more >
Combining Thanks and Giving: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Combining Thanks and Giving: A Dancing Rabbit Update

I sit here bundled against the cold with two dogs at my feet while listening to my toddler laugh as he plays in the bathroom sink. Yes, he has figured out how to move the dog food bin to the counter and climb on it to give himself access to the wettest and “funnest” game ever. I know there will be a bit of cleanup, but for now, I have a few moments to myself and he really is so joyful that it’s hard to see the negative. Melany here, writing during blizzard conditions that seemed impossible just yesterday. Truthfully, I…read more >