Hi all. This is Alline with the week’s events from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage.
First of all, thanks to all of our friends and neighbors who came to our Open House last Saturday. We had a wonderful time, and we hope that all of you did, too! It was a beautiful sunny day, and about 170 people participated in our extended tours. Members of Dancing Rabbit hosted tour stops that included talks on everything from our love of bicycles to the planning of our new Community Building. Katherine sat on the Mercantile porch and did face painting, resulting in lots of little “kittens” and “flowers” running and giggling through the village. We really enjoy this annual opportunity to meet new friends and talk a bit about what we’re trying to accomplish here.
The desk where I write is next to an upstairs window in our house. At various times I can hear kids laughing and playing (anything from basketball to squealing as they ride their bikes up and down Main Street), the muted conversation and gentle laughter of neighbors interacting, the wind through the leaves, barking dogs, and the blues band practicing across the road at La Casa. Today, however, is so gorgeous and breezy that I decided to leave my desk take a walk around the village to do some “live” reporting.
As I stepped out of my front door Ted, Sequoia and Toon rode by in the tractor with a trailer full of urbanite. “Urbanite” is just a fancy-schmancy name for rock-sized pieces concrete, broken up and muscled out of their original home for use somewhere else.
Following the truck, I found where the urbanite blocks (all approximately 6″ x 18″ x 12″) are becoming a retaining wall in the addition to Ted and Sara’s house. This particular addition will be bermed and used for a tornado shelter as well as a root cellar and storage place for cheese ripening and wine aging. Note to self: next tornado season, head to Ted and Sara’s for a wine and cheese tornado party.
Right next door is Tereza’s new house. Still under construction (a common theme here at Dancing Rabbit) but already oh-so-fabulous, it has a front porch and is nestled under some trees, making it cozy and welcoming even in these early stages. Bear and Brent are working hard to get it ready for winter. Jess, one of our favorite people who are “circling the drain” (i.e. those who make frequent visits here to Dancing Rabbit while trying to decide whether or not to make the move official) is also working on the building.
When I visited Hassan this morning we both lay down on our backs the gravel-covered floor of the Hermitage, facing the bright blue sky through the 18 beautiful stripped poles which are all resting on one another for support. Though corny, I like that this is a lovely illustration of the kind of community we’re trying to build – by ourselves we’re not very effective or strong, but with the support of others, we’re invincible.
Wandering up Crooked Root Road a bit, I came across Scout, who is painting larger-than-life sunflowers on Julie’s greenhouse. His rendering is gorgeous, and will help us remember summer’s warmth when winter finally rolls around.
A bit further up the road I found Mac, Kyle, Ziggy, Haley and Caleb stomping cob, which was being applied to Kyle & Haley’s not-yet-officially-named home. They’re making it a one-stop demonstration of many kinds of natural building: cob, strawbale, earth bags, and light clay straw are all represented. Supervising the job were Mac’s dog Norm and April’s dog Pug, both of whom were doing a fabulous job.
Like many others in the community, I’ve been working overtime processing summer’s bounty. Last night I put up 18 quarts of tomato soup. And as much as I enjoy eating the results, what I REALLY love is watching the pantry shelves filling up with gleaming jars of preserved summer produce. All over the village there are jars filled with applesauce, dried fruits and vegetables, salsa, tomato sauce, pickles…
Kurt and Bob continue to work on screening in the Mercantile porch—we’re dreaming of bug-free dinners in our future. Using reclaimed tongue and groove wood and designed around Arts and Crafts-style elements, it is really coming together.
We’ve had some delightful guests at the Mercantile lately—last week we hosted Alex Whitcroft’s former Architecture professor (who now teaches at Oxford in England), and this week we’re hosting Alex Barnes’ parents and Ma’ikwe’s mom. Kurt and I feel a bit selfish – we get to hang out with some extraordinary folks!
Last but not least, on Sunday night a record number of Rabbits (44) donned roller skates in Kahoka to help Mac celebrate his birthday. Stealthily planned by Anya and Nani, he was definitely surprised. Katherine played DJ, and everyone got to skate, limbo and chicken dance to his/her heart’s content.
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community and educational nonprofit in Rutledge, northeast Missouri, focused on sustainable living. We offer free tours to the public twice monthly from April-October. Our next tour will be September 22nd at 1pm. Meanwhile, for more information you can visit our website www.dancingrabbit.org, read our blog The March Hare at blog.dancingrabbit.org, or give us a call at (660) 883-5511.