Two days ago, I heard about a magazine writer coming to DR to write about all the different natural building methods we use in different buildings here. I was asked to do a tour of the Hub, just when I thought I was done with Hub tours until next spring. So one more time I tidied things and tried to decide how much to hide the construction zone type items still stored inside the building.
The tour was relatively quick and I felt like the writer knew at least the basics about natural building and a sense of what Dancing Rabbit was about. But just in case, and from experience, I am practicing non-attachment about the eventual article.
Liz here, with another update on the latest from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage.
The last few weeks have continued to be about getting ready for winter. After eight years living in this village, I’ve learned that it’s much easier to prepare for winter before really cold weather sets in. So the firewood stacks at my straw bale building project called the Hub are getting higher, and as they do, my feeling of being rich, grows. Those of you that heat your homes with firewood will understand.
As the nights get colder here, my appetite begins to switch over to a winter diet. I crave Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and hot tangerine zinger tea. But one thing I hold firm on: no fire in the wood stove until after October, come hell or high water; no matter how low the temp drops. I find that to make sure I don’t have to restock firewood in the middle of winter, that it’s much easier to conserve wood in October than in January, and putting a sweater on and draping a fleece blanket over my legs in the evening is no hardship at all in the fall.
But over at the Hub, it’s a different story, at least when there are guests staying there. For the last three weeks I’ve had a volunteer helping me with the project and she’s staying in one of the lofts at the Hub. Last week I fired up the masonry heater once to make sure she stayed warm. The masonry heater is quite a beast, and it doesn’t take long to add some heat to the building.
A group of Rabbits shared rides to the Missouri Chestnut Roast Festival at the University of Missouri near Columbia, sponsored by the MU Center for Agroforestry. DR’s Heartwood Agroforestry Collective currently has five acres planted with 250 young chestnut trees, so chestnuts come up as a topic frequently around here. The Rabbits going to the festival also volunteered some of their time to help out with the event.
This morning marks just four days until DR’s Progressive Fiasco; our village’s nod to Halloween. I can feel the anticipation building. It will be the Hub’s first experience as a stop in a progression of five stops. I can’t wait to see everyone’s costumes!
This morning my email delivered a “letter of intent” from Lindsey, who I’ve been working with all season at the Hub, and who has quickly become involved in the Hub stewardship. I am pleased to see that she is applying to become a resident here (and it’s about d—- time, Sweetie).
I wish for all of us some fun and different ways of blowing off steam after all of our hard work this fall.
Liz Hackney heads up the straw bale building project called the Hub. She also is editor of this newsletter for the last five years and a regular writer for the last eight years.