Greetings! Tereza here, with a busy week behind us, and another one ahead; at least it will be for me, as I’ll be away for a long weekend and so have a fair bit to do to prep for that. Here’s my (perhaps thankfully) brief update on the week that was at Dancing Rabbit.
The theme was one of gratitude, and the highlight of course was Thanksgiving. Many folks are away, for holiday or extended winter travel, but we had folks from the surrounding communities, plus a number of young’uns home from college and school, making for a full but not overcrowded dinner on Thursday. The Great Room felt homey and warm and comforting, and dinner was one of the tastiest of these events in my memory.
In the non-dessert realm there was venison curry, two roasted ducks, fried chicken, baked tofu, mashed potatoes both vegan and non-, gravy, green bean casserole, greens, squash, several kinds of cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mashed rutabagas. Reading that last I imagine many of you thought “ugh” (or maybe even something worse). Well let me tell you it was one of the best dishes at dinner. I felt grateful that so many people have so little appreciation for this humble root vegetable, as that meant there was plenty for me to have (yes, I admit it) thirds. Yum!
I’m sure I’m forgetting some of the mains and sides, but want to mention my thankfulness that my community mates remember and provide the kind of cranberry sauce that makes it Thanksgiving to me. The fancy, gourmet, “make it yourself with fresh cranberries and orange zest and walnuts” stuff is super tasty, don’t get me wrong, but for me it isn’t Thanksgiving without the uniform jellied kind, from a can, served on a dish as an entire sauce-log with its can-ridges proudly showing… Mmmmm…. Thanks Cob and Alline for feeding my memories and making me happy!
Something I especially loved about this meal was how many of the dishes were local, prepared with ingredients raised with love by my friends and neighbors. I appreciate how many of us value homegrown food so highly, and take such pains to make our special meals so… special.
There were also lots of amazing desserts: several pumpkin pies, including one with a really excellent gluten-free crust, apple pie, the “famous wafers and cream” thingy, pumpkin mousse (so good on top of pie!), magic cookie bars (you know, the multi layer ones with coconut and butterscotch chips and chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk?), spice cupcakes, cookies, and scrumptious chocolate cake with a very tasty glaze. Are you feeling hungry? I am. Feel free to take a break and go get a snack. (I just did.)
Welcome back.
In the afternoon, before dinner, some folks got together and shared what they felt gratitude for. The theme was continued at my table at dinner, as many of the folks I sat with hadn’t been at the gratitude sharing. Ben said something that really resonated with many of us: “I’m doing exactly what I want to do… and it’s harder than I thought it would be.” There’s a lot to be grateful for on both sides of that statement…
After the meal, quite a few of us played The Best Game Ever. Similar to Exquisite Corpse (featured in a recent update) but with a much more pleasant name, The Best Game Ever starts with each player writing a sentence or phrase at the top of a blank sheet of paper. Hand it to the person next to you, who has to illustrate the words. Fold down the top so only the picture can be seen, and pass it on again. That person has to caption the illustration.
Continue folding and passing, alternating drawing and captions, until you reach the end of the sheet of paper, ideally ending on a sentence. Unfold and enjoy. Comparing first and last sentences highly recommended. As is pointing out to your neighbor that, in fact, that word was “chicken,” not “children,” and noting the highly amusing drawing their mis-read created.
Meadoe was literally falling out of her chair, she was laughing so hard. I was much more staid, merely cackling and snorting madly. I am not sure the other players will ever play with us again. Hilarious. Dan has a habit of adding in bonus cats or UFOs or celebrity names, to increase the hilarity factor. Next time I’ll try to remember to do that too. (“Oh, I just thought making you draw a squash bug invasion would be interesting… Is that a problem?”)
Friday saw yet another Dancing Rabbit tradition, one I refuse to look up because I am afraid it will turn out to be a complete fabrication of Thomas’, said in jest many years ago but now enshrined in hallowed ritual. Yes, I’m referring to the Feast of Gloria Tubman (Harriet’s lesser-known, under-achieving sister).
Taking place the day after Thanksgiving, it is a time to bring the leftovers out and share them with one and all. (Don’t tell, but it is perfectly acceptable form to bring your non-Thanksgiving leftovers too. That red bean stew that was really good the first two times you had it but that everyone in your co-op is heartily sick of? Nobody else has had it before and it’ll taste great to them!) And before you ask, yes, there were rutabagas. And yes, they were delicious.
In other news, several regular denizens of Ironweed kitchen have been away, so there have been many intimate dinners with just Ted, Sara, Aurelia and me. Quite pleasant, despite the many nights without a cook. These “no cook” nights are sometimes fun, with spontaneous sharing of what folks make on their own, but it can also be annoying. If I forget there’s no cook and don’t realize until dinner time that instead of a well-prepared meal I have to figure out what I’m going to eat, and if it isn’t Pizza Night, so eating at the Mercantile isn’t an option, well, that can sometimes be less than fun. But these last few weeks have been lovely mellow affairs, with cooks often making enough food the night before that warming up tasty leftovers is an excellent option.
As our numbers will be low for the next month, and Bobolink numbers have also decreased, Nathan, Illy and Rae will be joining us down Ironweed way for December. It will be fun to spend more time with folks we don’t see as often, and get to experience their cooking and conversational styles.
I’ll bet you were thinking you might make it through an entire weekly update without a mention of the weather, but nope! (Be brave, though, there’s a kitten at the end…) It was cold. And then more cold. And even colder, for even longer. Then suddenly we had a lovely sunny day, offering a much-needed respite. High in the fifties meant folks were out in their gardens and yards, tidying things up, chopping and carrying wood, and doing other tasks that are so much more pleasant done in sunshine.
I had already stocked up on wood but I took the opportunity to eat lunch outside, basking in the unexpected warmth. There was a bonus kitten-sighting, as Wallace, the new kitten in my neighborhood I hadn’t yet met, wandered by and was eventually persuaded (after taking time to hiss most adorably at Isis the dog) to be petted a little bit. He is the cutest recent addition to the neighborhood for sure. I’ll close with saying how grateful I am to be surrounded by so many friendly creatures of the human and non-human variety!
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Many of you are already planning your handmade gifts, local crafts, and family time together for the holiday season. But if you’re also planning to purchase items through Amazon, please consider using AmazonSmile instead, so your gifts can help make a greener world. When you choose Dancing Rabbit Inc., our educational nonprofit, as your beneficiary organization, 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases is donated to the organization, at no extra cost to you. With your support we can reach more people, teaching them how to live more lightly. Thank you from all of us who are working to bring the lessons of Dancing Rabbit to all those who want to create a sustainable culture!
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Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community and nonprofit outside Rutledge, in northeast Missouri, focused on demonstrating sustainable living possibilities. Find out more about us by visiting our website, reading our blog, or emailing us.