Hello gentle readers. Sam here.
These days the sky starts lightening well after my iPod alarm wakes me to start getting my son ready for school. I build the fire, make breakfast, and get sleepy boy dressed and ready for the bus all before the stars fade into dawn for the day. By the time he gets home in the afternoon, it’s about the time of day that the sun dips below the clouds for one brief and glorious appearance before it descends behind Vista da la Moo. It’s a short day, but no less full for me than in the summer when the sun takes the long way around and rises and sets far to the north.
Historically one of the most notable aspects of winter at Dancing Rabbit is extreme electrical frugality. Off the grid, shorter spans of daylight and long stretches of heavy overcast spells drained battery banks and subsequently tough choices around the power uses we depend on or can be accustomed to. It makes us more creative around how to get things done, and, frankly, more stressed out about meeting our obligations, particularly those of us who telecommute to jobs where our bosses and clients don’t necessarily accommodate “low power days.”
Since I’m on BEDR these days, sharing renewable power with each other and the wider grid in exchange for consistency and reliability, I, for one, am feeling more relaxed about my ability to support my family and do other things, like bathe, read, and write this column.
Lots of folks are traveling to visit family and friends, taking advantage of the slow season if they’re builders or gardeners, the public school break if they’ve kids enrolled there, and a reason to celebrate in this season of many holidays. Those of us here on farm (so to speak) are having celebrations of our own this week. Katherine’s birthday pageant was a blast; Gwendy, from Red Earth Farms, took first place. As I write this we haven’t yet had Kody’s birthday party (Happy Birthday, sweetheart!), a Christmas Eve dessert potluck followed by sacred music, and a Christmas morning brunch potluck at the Mercantile, but I expect they’ll be swell. I’m excited for them, anyway.
It snowed, just after last week’s author, Ben, reported that it hadn’t yet. It blew like crazy and dropped a few inches on us. It was enough for an afternoon of fun sledding on Vista de la Moo the following day. The day of the storm I hear there was a snowball fight, but I didn’t see it. I was at home enjoying the feeling of being snug against the wind and cold, and grateful to Cob for helping me bring wood in the previous day. I’m hoping for a wetter winter this year than last. The ground is so thirsty still.
It’s been pretty cold, too. Not bitterly so, but enough to freeze the ponds sufficiently for skating. Some folks are excited for a game of ice hockey with our neighbors at Sandhill and Red Earth Farms, and are reiterating some norms around keeping the ice in good smooth shape for skating. They’re also trying to keep the ultimate frisbee field clear of snow people so they can continue to play through the winter. A lot of the work we do to keep the village running smoothly and to tell the world about how to live more sustainably happens in meetings and in front of a computer, so especially in winter it’s very important for each of us to find ways to keep our blood moving and keep ourselves connected with the world outside our houses.
The annual update we just sent, summarizing our efforts over the past year and looking forward with hope to everything we’ll do in the future, reaches thousands of people and takes a surprising amount of effort to compose and send out. If you got one, we hope you feel uplifted by the work we’re doing here. Making a positive difference is part of our everyday lives, and it’s not always easy, but we do it knowing that you’re out there appreciating that you can learn from our efforts.
One improvement that’s in the works is organic produce delivery. Toon is setting up a system whereby we can order bulk organic produce through him, he places the order through Zimmermans Store in town, and a few days later we can pick up our order of fruits and veggies in the common house.
We’re also looking at a full Spring, Summer, and Fall coming up with lots of member-run workshops in addition to DR’s official visitor program. There will be cob oven workshops, shipping container building workshops, an artist in residence program, the ecovillage design course, dance workshops and maybe more. Folks are really taking on the educational aspect of our mission in a personal and powerful way. Thanks everyone!
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.