Abundance of Summer: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Abundance of Summer: A Dancing Rabbit Update

New resident Liz here, writing to you after living at Dancing Rabbit for four months. I’ve had a great first summer in Missouri after moving here from Berkeley, California. When I told people that I was moving to Missouri, the first thing both people from Berkeley and midwesterners alike said was, “you know it gets really hot and humid there in the summer?” And yet here I am. Two things surprise me this summer: how much cooking and processing of food I’m doing and how much the warm humid air amplifies the senses: the feel of warm steamy air on…read more >
Birthday “Tape” and Other Antics: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Birthday “Tape” and Other Antics: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Greetings friends! Katherine here to regale you with our ecovillage antics of the week. The weather has been absolutely amazing, with cool nights and windy days. The August tempers are a bit cooler than in recent years and people are often heard during group check-ins to be enjoying the sun-showers and frequent rainbows. The rain could not have come soon enough as our gardens have been thirsty and the cisterns running low. Last Sunday saw the end of the Milkweed Mercantile’s Preserving the Harvest workshop. About 9 folks came from all over the country to learn about canning, fermenting, and…read more >
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a… Drone? A Dancing Rabbit Update

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a… Drone? A Dancing Rabbit Update

I'm often surprised at how much we (the world in general, including those of us living at Dancing Rabbit) rely on technology, bucolic rural location notwithstanding. Given what we know about the impacts of resource extraction, and the negative effects this has on our environment and indigenous populations, how much longer can we continue to pretend "everything is fine" and feel good about our personal tech and the power it consumes? Cob here, bringing you the news of this past week at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. I do find myself sliding into grumpy-old-man territory more often as the work of my…read more >
Ben Sez: It’s Hot! A Dancing Rabbit Update

Ben Sez: It’s Hot! A Dancing Rabbit Update

Howdy y’all. Ben here, bringing the latest happenings from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, nestled in the humid rolling hills of northeast Missouri. I don’t know if you can smell me from wherever you are, but I can. Right now, I’m getting notes of billy goat, swine excreta, sprouted oats, pencil lead, and beer sweat. I always smell like pencil lead. If you’ve read more than a couple of these ecovillage updates, I’m truly sorry about the constant obsession with the weather. It’s very relevant here. And actually, I’m not sorry. To make an understatement, it is hot and humid, as it…read more >
Relying on Others: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Relying on Others: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Saturday morning I went out for my normal Ultimate engagement with my many friends who like to chase flying plastic, but had to sign a couple releases before I could play. Rae and Aaron, who play Ultimate with us now and again, as well as serving on our Outreach committee and running a private business engaged in the production and good use of video and audio content related to community, had arrived with gear. Rae with a digital camera took video from the sidelines as we played. A drone flown by Aaron took aerial footage at the same time, which…read more >
A Mix of Worlds: A Dancing Rabbit Update

A Mix of Worlds: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Hello! It’s Stephen and I’m back on farm after being away in Los Angeles for six months, and I’d forgotten what summer really means. Stepping out of the airport: hot and sticky—why did I wear pants? How soon can I take them off? And arriving here, at Dancing Rabbit: so much greenery and life! Plants shooting up wherever they can. Birds, so many birds. And bugs, yes. The invisible, getting-in-your-skin and itching kind too. It is so not California. And with all of that, and with seeing everyone here again, and with our house—Casa Caterpillar—it feels very good to be…read more >
Workshops, Visitors, and Tractors: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Workshops, Visitors, and Tractors: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Greetings, friends! It feels good to be writing again to y'all after so long. Katherine here, with a few musings for your reading pleasure. This week has seen a lot of high energy around the village with workshops, visitors, and tractors! After a successful Milkweed Mercantile Natural Building workshop last week, followed by the CSCC Natural Building workshop (both of which I cooked for), we launched immediately into the second visitor program of the season and a yoga retreat (for which I am also cooking). With all these people in town, I can tell you that mounds of kale and…read more >
Starting Fresh: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Starting Fresh: A Dancing Rabbit Update

As I sit reflecting on the past week, enjoying the polar vortex that has delivered an unseasonable chill (low 50s overnight is NOT normal for Missouri at this time of year), I can't help but feel recharged and ready for new beginnings. Cob here, with a spring in my step to match my internal sense of the season. There were many fresh starts this past week, not the least of which is the arrival of another visitor group, soon to be friends. I had the privilege of preparing food for their first breakfast together, and felt renewed by their tangible…read more >