Tax day dawns brighter than expected today… this must be a good omen. The half-inch or more of rain predicted for overnight did not manifest, and the sun has managed to break through once or twice this morning. Ted here to offer the latest from the village.
I’m finding it hard to decide whether I want more rain or not these days. When it rains, I don’t have to water seedlings, and I don’t have to haul water out to the 22 fruit trees I planted in my orchard last week; I can pump water in the kitchen from the rain barrels (still a pleasant treat after winter, when they’re empty and I have to pump from the cistern at my house). On the other hand, when it doesn’t rain, and the spring warmth floods the land, I smile at the pile of warm clothes that I don’t have to put on (but do have to get put up for the season) and get out to the garden to prep beds and plant ever more abundance.
Last week’s one night down to 27 notwithstanding, birds, peepers, tree buds, our laying hens, and little green garden sprouts all declare that warmer weather is here to stay for a while. And if those aren’t enough, these days I also get to hear the lovely sounds of a lamb and a kid, brought by a recent work exchange arrival for the Critters, a new agriculturally-oriented group of folks here. They’re penned here and there near my house at the moment, and do that leaping and flopping thing those little ones do that seems to make most people (myself included) sort of melt a little to see.
My first round of peas are finally up, and my second round went in the ground yesterday. Searching for a place to plant the inevitable handful of seed left when I’d planted the various spots I had in mind, I thought to put some under the flagpole in our garden to climb on it. I started clearing the weeds there, only to find what I quickly realized were pea sprouts from the extras I must have planted there (and promptly forgotten about) from the first round… great minds think alike!
Friday we all gathered bright and early for one of our two annual land cleans. The typical format is everyone working on group cleaning tasks all morning, and then individuals working on their own home warrens through the afternoon. New playground installations and updating took place, Bike World got a facelift and some new infrastructure, flower patches were weeded and mulched, and much refuse gathered itself into the trailer for a dump run.
I engaged much of the morning on dismantling a brick-and-earth kiln, built by a former resident down in the draw near my house where Sara and I camped for a year when we first moved here. It was sad to undo the work, but also good to reclaim the material resources for future projects, and to discover the remnants of the last firing two years ago, including a few small bowls we can use. I hope we’ll see another kiln built here and put to use eventually. I would dearly love to get back into potting myself.
Speaking of the days when Sara and I were camping… tomorrow the 16th it will be ten years since Sara and I moved here, having met here as interns a couple years prior. Sara will be home from Taos a week hence, and I’m hoping we’ll have some sort of celebration, maybe even a house warming in our newly expanded home. This is by several years now the place I have lived longest in my life. I’m proud to call it home.
I know he didn’t mean to dampen my excitement for the anniversary, but when I told Tony the other day that our anniversary was upcoming, he responded that he was thinking about some sort of celebration of his own– on Earth Day, the 21st, it will be 20 (!) years since he first walked up to Dave and Cecil (now both DR board members) at the Dancing Rabbit Project table on the plaza at Stanford and signed on to the idea. And 15 years since I first met him at a Communities conference in northern California, when he convinced me I ought to visit. So much to contemplate from the intervening years.
Saturday at least half the village seemed to have gone off to the Dog and Gun, a long-running monthly flea market not far off. I didn’t see people returning with too much, but did manage to score a Bavarian cream doughnut from Zimmerman’s, courtesy of Mae. The one other notable purchase was a handful of Muscovy ducks Ben came home with, who seem remarkably tame and are likely to be Althea’s new best friends.
Sunday night, Coz celebrated his 45th birthday at the Casa with a dance party. I felt pretty wiped out from days of garden work, but Tereza convinced me to put in an appearance, and somehow I ended up staying to dance for three hours straight. I guess I hadn’t grooved in a while and was ready for it after all. Shirt and tie were requested, and it was fun to see everyone pull out their formal wear. I was able to supply a couple ties to those who didn’t have one. The stormy, rainy night was perfect for cooling off between tunes.
Tereza, Nathan, and Rachel all returned from month-long sojourns this week, Dennis and Sharon welcomed new work exchangers to their project, Alyssa and Bear will welcome one themselves today, and the first Common House work exchanger will arrive this week as well. Our first visitor session of the year begins today too. So much going on, one simply can’t do it all… thankfully there are many of us to do it all together.
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is a residential community and non-profit dedicated to demonstrating sustainable living, just outside Rutledge, northeast Missouri. We are back in tour season now, and our next one will be Saturday the 27th at 1pm. Meanwhile, for more information, give us a call at 660-883-5511, check out our website at www.dancingrabbit.org, and read the latest at blog.dancingrabbit.org.
Happy spring to all.