Hi all. This is Alline writing for Dancing Rabbit.
There is a group of six or so writers who take turns with this column; each person brings his/her own focus and point of view to light. This week it’s my turn.
I’m sitting here at my desk – the rain is thrumming on the roof and the wood stove is making it warm and cozy inside. By the time you read this the election results will be in. But as I write this, it is election eve – we’ve all made plans to walk, bike or drive to Rutledge to vote tomorrow. While I find politics discouraging I am grateful for the opportunity to vote.
The weather continues to be strange – highs in the 70’s and lows below freezing in the last week of October and first week of November. Building projects are wrapping up for the season, and work is moving inside. Personally I’m hoping for one last bit of warmth – I recently purchased 72 daffodil bulbs (half off! How could I resist?), and need to get them in the ground soon! I like to imagine their sunshiny yellow heads popping up next April when all is gloomy and gray. I suspect that gardeners and farmers are the most optimistic people around.
The biggest event this past week was Halloween. Celebrated in great style here at Dancing Rabbit, we have an annual “Holler’ween Traveling Fiasco.” Everyone dresses up and we proceed from stop to stop, where we are entertained, fed and generally delighted. Some of the notable stops were Thistledown, which was transformed into a pirate’s lair; a haunted house with things that go bump in the night in the Outdoor Kitchen; and Katherine’s hilarious pantomime-pumpkin-carving contest. There were some fabulous costumes, too – bats, robots, fairies, princesses, Little Red Riding Hood, chickens, and even the Sun, Earth and little moon revolving around one another.
In addition to making our own fun, interesting people continue to flock to Dancing Rabbit. As proprietors of the Mercantile we get to meet them all! In the last few weeks we’ve had an art teacher from Mizzou (who is helping the Mercantile establish an Artist in Residence Program for 2013 – stay tuned!); her sister who is writing an article on Dancing Rabbit (we’re dreaming of publication in Midwest Living, perhaps?); a numismatist; a mom taking a personal retreat; parents of Rabbits from Michigan, New York and Vermont; folks who now live near Kansas City but spent 16 years in Ireland; and an artist named Billyo O’Donnell (https://billyoart.com/) who has produced a book of landscapes called Painting Missouri. His work can be viewed on Thursday, November 8th from 1-5pm at the Kirksville Art Center (117 S. Franklin Street). On the evening of Sunday, November 11th we’re hosting a wine & cheese reception from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. at the Milkweed Mercantile In addition to prints from the Painting Missouri series he’ll be showing some paintings that he has done at Dancing Rabbit, Sandhill Farm, and around Scotland County. Everyone is welcome!
(Dancing) Rabbits continue to travel, both for fun and profit. Tony is currently up in Michigan, where he is speaking about Dancing Rabbit and sustainability at a number of venues. A few of our builders have gone down to Newark to work for a week, and another group has gone to deconstruct an old building. The ebb and flow of village life continues, with the last few work exchangers of the season making their winter plans elsewhere.
While Dancing Rabbit has ‘officially’ closed for the winter, the Milkweed Mercantile café is open for pizza every Thursday from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. (except for Thanksgiving). We enjoy it when folks from “town” come share some good food (and 26 kinds of beer!) with us.
We continue to have a mini farmer’s market every Sunday after our weekly meeting. We have so much to choose from, even this late in the season – feta and mozzarella cheese, “dinosaur” kale, brilliantly-colored chard, bok choi, cabbage, onions, and many other things that I can’t quite remember right now. I had great fun making a hearty Minestrone soup last night – in addition to our own canned tomatoes we had local greens in it too. Yum!
That’s it for now – stay warm!
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community of more than 60 people and growing. We practice ecologically sustainable living in Rutledge, Northeast Missouri. We offer free tours to the public which will begin again in April, 2013. For more information, see our website at www.dancingrabbit.org, find us on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/DancingRabbitEcovillage, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/dancingrabbit or give us a call at (660) 883-5511.