Photo by Katherine
As the rotation of writers for this week’s column has now cycled back to me, I am sitting here, contemplating the essence of the past seven days. How to sum up the happenings of so many lives and the complexly interwoven moments that take place can frankly pose a challenge. The growth, connection, love, as well as the struggles and setbacks are categorized and prioritized with a swift stroke of my metaphorical pen with a methodology that is multi-faceted and mysterious, even to me.
Julie here with this week’s article.
As I think back on the past week, I am conjuring an image of a pyramid with group gatherings placed at the bottom, and individuals residing at the top. Countless singular moments make up the whole, and create the base upon which it stands, and have no less significance than a room filled with contra dancers, music, and of course, dancing. I think I’ll start this week’s article in this singular moment, and work my way back.
This weekend has brought many new faces to the village, as we are hosting a contra dancing event that has attracted 25 contra aficionados into our community. From Friday to Sunday, they were swept away in a whirlwind of dances whose music spilled into the streets with a welcome and contagious quality. Live fiddle music has a way of capturing the ear in a way that commands rapturous attention. If you allow it to sink beneath your skin a little, it can elevate your mind and mood in a personal way you might not expect. You might not realize how hungry your soul is for this music until it reaches you and you find yourself helplessly engaging, as though breaking an involuntary fast. Trust me on this one.
This morning (Sunday) the Milkweed Mercantile hosted a farewell breakfast for Dave and Anya. I can’t express how much they will be missed, for words and language are a poor medium through which to convey human emotion. They fall embarrassingly short of expressing the fullness of joy they brought to us in so many ways, and we will never be the same for having loved them as the family they’ve become to us.
It seems that in order to get rain here in northeast Missouri, all we need to do is convince Ziggy and April to host a cob-oven building workshop. Why we never noticed this obvious cause and effect linkage before continues to baffle me. They have a small number of enthusiastic folks who apparently revel getting covered in cob (a mixture of clay, straw and sand) in order to more sustainably cook their food. These ovens are amazing! Once fired, they can cook a substantial amount of food, and can reach temperatures that can efficiency and quickly cook their famous pizzas to perfection. What’s more, is that even as the oven’s temperature cools, you can slow cook foods overnight, such as beans or chicken. It was incredibly satisfying to cook my homemade pies with garden-grown ground cherries in an oven that was built and fueled in a sustainable manner. If you’re interested in participating in the next workshop, there are 2 spaces left for the session on October 12th-14th.
Dancing Rabbit is an intentional community and educational non-profit in Rutledge, Missouri, focused on sustainable living. We offer a tour on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, April through October. The tour starts at 1:00 PM and generally lasts one and a half to two hours. You do not need to make a reservation for regularly scheduled Saturday tours. For directions, call the Dancing Rabbit office at 660-883-5511 or email us at dancingrabbit@ic.org. Find out more about us on our website at www.dancingrabbit.org, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DancingRabbitEcovillage.