April isn’t the most picturesque time of year in Northeast Missouri… True, a few daffodils are smattered near houses and tasty carpets of chickweed and henbit sit like green islands in the otherwise muddy landscape. The trees are still anxiously holding on to their blossoms, not sure if they are ready for another late frost. Snow boots have been switched out for mud boots, and losing a shoe in muddle suction is not unheard of. It’s also the time of year we all chip in for the spring cleaning frenzy called “Land Clean.”
Nik here, telling all y’all that when you are building a village, there are often piles, hither and dither—piles of lumber, firewood, building materials, fencing, small children, what-have-you. A dear friend and former Dancing Rabbit member once told me that on good days she saw Dancing Rabbit as beautiful, idyllic, and full of possibility; on bad days she just saw a bunch of piles!
Before the green takes over in the last cling of winter, I can see what she means.
On the morning of Land Clean, the entire village populace encircles and cheers, ready to take on the entire property and make it as beautiful as it can be on its best days.
Paths were mulched, seedlings and bulbs planted, fire pits readied, trees pruned, bridges built! Some tucked away places became more like archaeological digs than tidying up. There is so much history here: old straw bale notching apparatuses for making straw bale buildings simpler to construct, stove pipes yet to go up, old shelving from the hardware store, failed experiments in sustainability, and experiments that are not quite ready for their debut. What is history and what is just…junk? It’s not always an easy call.
It was also our first public tour of the year! A dozen or so curious folks took the bi-monthly tour of the ecovillage. A couple Canadians were passing through on a 6 month-long road trip and decided to stay the evening and regale stories of other communities in their travels.
Volunteerism is what community runs on. Everyone pulls their weight, yes, but volunteerism is above and beyond. It takes a lot to make an ecovillage run, just like any town. Many jobs and committees here are volunteer based—one sees a need, and they fill it. That’s why Land Clean works so well: it needs to happen and we make it fun.
Maybe the next morning I wouldn’t have called it “fun.” My muscles and hands ached from hauling piles from here and there. Mostly rocks and riprap…why did I choose rocks?
But, perhaps the piles aren’t all that bad, even on bad day. Far too early that morning, I woke achy and groggy. Stepping outside to greet the first light, I saw a flutter by my feet. Without my glasses all I could think was, “Great, a piece of trash, even after Land Clean…” I leaned down to pick it up and saw it wasn’t trash flapping in the wind, it was a little brown bat, grounded and trying to get back in the air.
Her wings were puckered, maybe from the chill, I thought, but I put on my work gloves and gently picked her up. I’ve always had an affinity for bats. Growing up in an old house, we had our share of errant bats that got stuck flying circles in rooms. Everyone else in my family was terrified, but as far back as I can remember I would catch them with a sheet or basket and take them outside. Somewhere I read that they needed to be up high to fly, since they couldn’t take off from the ground like birds—so I put them in a tree. That morning, the only tree near my house was a thorn-covered honey locust, so I looked around more. A perfect pile…just my height.
I placed the bat on top, and let her be.
One more advocate for piles? Maybe… but checking back later, she did get airborne again, so I can’t knock them as much anymore.
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Want to come check out our piles in person? Join one of our 1-3 week visitor program sessions, or attend our 5 day Ecovillage Experience: Skills for Living Lightly course.
If you live in or near St. Louis, come meet some Rabbits at St. Louis Earth Day! On Sunday April 24th 10am – 6pm Tereza, Dan and Javi will be tabling and talking about DR— hope to see some of you there!
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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.