Monsters and Ice: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Monsters and Ice: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Howdy y'all. You know, whenever I have a hard time talking about what's really going on — or worse, no idea what the other party could possibly be thinking — I like to discuss the weather instead. So I think I'll start there. Ben's chickens scrabbling for oats in the snow. Ben here, writing to y'all from the icy physical and emotional purgatory that is Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, tucked away in the impassibly slippery rolling hills of Northeast Missouri. This has been the hardest winter I've ever experienced, maybe. Then again, I've been through some pretty hard ones. Everything outside…read more >

Difficult News: A Brief Update

It is with shock and sadness that I write this update today. Our community has been rocked by a difficult and traumatizing situation. A member of Dancing Rabbit was arrested on 02/01/2019 on charges of sexual assault of minors.  Like any community would, Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and the surrounding communities are struggling with this very challenging and sensitive situation. We are currently focused on doing everything we can to support everyone impacted by this issue, surrounding people with as much compassion and care as possible. As you might imagine, this situation is extremely fluid and complicated, and we are still learning…read more >
Tracks in the Snow

Tracks in the Snow

A new baby boy was born to Burl and Troy during the recent full moon eclipse at Dancing Rabbit, before the moon had reemerged from Earth's shadow. I struggle to credit that it was just a week past. Perhaps it is the innumerable snowflakes that have fallen since (seemingly every day) blurring my recall, but a week past seems a very long time ago. Folks from the tri-communities of Dancing Rabbit, Sand Hill and Red Earth Farms gathered to celebrate Alyson's 50th birthday and dance the night away. Ted here with an update from our fair ecovillage in northeast Missouri,…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 >
Time Home: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Time Home: A Dancing Rabbit Update

I recently returned to Dancing Rabbit for a week and a half, after spending some time with family, before heading out to a meditation retreat. It was just in time to fulfill my monthly clean team duties, to attend approximately eight meetings, and to write this column. It has also been just enough time to appreciate what I love about living at DR; but not quite enough time to do as many of those things as I would have liked. Christina here, writing from cold, snowy northeast Missouri (taking some inspiration from a late-night show of my youth) with the…read more >
Living on the Edge: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Living on the Edge: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Since I moved to Missouri from California almost two years ago, I have had a tendency to look back and compare my experiences with each turn of the season. Whenever I can recall a memory of Dancing Rabbit instead of California, things feel a little easier. Liz here, with an update on the new year from Dancing Rabbit. Liz's proposed permaculture project site, with her friend the silver maple tree, and a view of Dancing Rabbit's Old Pond Last winter I traveled back to California three times for various reasons and it was hard being split between two homes. While…read more >
Doing Good As A Pessimist: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Doing Good As A Pessimist: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Ted putting some finishing touches on the purlins of the new barn in preparation for roofing.  Howdy y'all. Ben here, your favorite manure-encrusted freelance writer (emphasis on the free), bringing the latest news from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in cold, dreary Northeast Missouri. I'm encrusted in manure for a few reasons. One is that my work area this afternoon is a somewhat rare combination of icy yet muddy conditions; it’s like scrabbling over frozen chunks of waterlogged earth frosted in a thin veil of poultry leavings, which have been warmed over by a balmy sun. It has a consistency similar to…read more >
Happy Sun Return: A Dancing Rabbit Update

Happy Sun Return: A Dancing Rabbit Update

As long as we have kept chickens — which our oldest Speckled Sussex hen, Rose, tells me is something like nine years now — I have noticed that within a few days of the winter solstice, egg production starts to rebound. Laying is influenced by light exposure, and it only takes a few minutes shift in day length for the hens to respond. Ted here to bring you the final column of 2018 from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, as our days have started to grow longer again. The smiling faces of some who gathered to greet the returning sun on the…read more >