Babies, babies everywhere! Every time I step outside, I see baby bunnies, adorable little balls of fluff, munching on the weeds around our yard. Thankfully they can’t get into our garden, protected by a good rabbit-proof fence, and the garden keeps on producing lettuce and tender, ripe strawberries by the bowlful every day.
This is Stephanie, enjoying the abundance of strawberries AND the abundance of bunnies in all their cuteness, whether they are nibbling on clover or playing games with each other in the yard.
Over in Critterville, babies are everywhere too. This week I got to meet the four sweet little goat kids, Cream, Sugar, Potatoes, and Molasses. By turns frisky, rambunctious, and cuddly, they love to be around people and, of course, to play with each other.
There are ducklings and chicks, bright balls of brown and yellow peeping out from under their mothers’ feathers. There are baby birds in nests all around the village, and proud parent birds anxiously hopping ahead of you when you walk, making sure that you go a safe distance away from their nests. There are seven stray kittens that Loren and Lucas rescued, cared for and found homes for.
And of course there is new life in plant form blossoming all around – allium, pinks, coral bell, chamomile, tansy, flowers of all color and design, beautifying meadows, yards, flower beds, and footpaths. I am grateful for the heavy rainstorm we had on Sunday evening, watering our plants and relieving the humidity and air pressure – followed with a brilliant rainbow.
On Saturday evening many villagers gathered to attend a presentation on climate change, given by members Sharon, Dennis, and Illly. After their training in Iowa with the Climate Reality Project, they practiced pushing their own edges to bring the presentation back to us. With sobering slides, video clips, charts, and other visuals they showed us the latest scientific research on the reality predicted if current carbon emissions trends continue, and what we can hope for if we all work together – personally, nationally, and globally – to change these trends.
It was a vivid reminder of why we are here, and what we are hoping to achieve through living this “ecovillage life”. We can all look inside ourselves, find our comfort zones, and then push those edges a bit farther – whether that means to learn the facts and speak out about climate change, to advocate with our political leaders, to divest from the fossil fuel industry and invest in renewable energy, or to minimize our own consumption and maximize our resource sharing with our communities.
Getting back to the babies topic – I have a baby of my own on the way, and it sure is a sobering reality to know that if current trends continue, most of the United States and the world will be in extreme drought conditions (among many other serious problems) by around 2050, when my child will be 35 years old.
Living “green” isn’t just a lifestyle to make me feel good about myself or to “save the world” for some abstract future generation hundreds of years from now. It’s about more than the baby bunnies, goats, ducklings, chicks, birds, and kittens, and flowers. It’s about our lives and the lives of our children… right here in Missouri and all around the world.
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Quick note about some upcoming St. Louis-area fun! Rabbits will be exhibiting at the Green Homes Festival, Saturday, June 20, 2015, at the Butterfly House in Faust Park, Chesterfield, MO. There’s no admission charge for this event, which promises to be a “hands-on, day-long festival of learning, playing, and engaging with people of all ages and backgrounds with an interest in sustainable, healthy lifestyles”! Hope to see some of you there!
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Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community and nonprofit outside Rutledge, in northeast Missouri, focused on demonstrating sustainable living possibilities. Find out more about us by visiting our website, reading our blog, or emailing us.