Hello everyone, from Drenching Rabbit! While it seems like there was probably a time when northeast Missouri was not like the Amazon, that is simply a distant memory right now. We have been getting wet on the regular with little chance of reprieve in sight. Some of the plants are happy, though not always the ones we want happy, and the cisterns are completely full.
Zach here. Long time reader, new time writer, and new time Rabbit.
Some say that we talk about the weather too much in these newsletters, but it’s hard to avoid since it seems to affect everyone’s daily business, even for someone like me who spends his days staring at a screen. With an online job, it has been easy in the past to sit at a desk all day and listen to the delightful pitter-patter or booming thunder outside my window with little to care about in the world.
Here, I can’t help think of the burgeoning friendships with my neighbors, many of whom garden, farm, husband animals, and are building their own houses. Their work is delayed or dismantled by the torrents from above – I’ve heard of gardens being overwhelmed by weeds, building projects put on hold, seen paths washed away, and people hunkered inside going a little stir-crazier than they would want to this time of year.
But such stir-craziness also means that when good weather comes around we take full advantage. This Saturday several Rabbits and guests held a float trip on the pond in the full sun, bathing in the warming light while imbibing cooling brews – as summer should be, and made so much more sweet by this year’s limited opportunities thus far.
Despite the rain and because of it, former Rabbit Sam and her son Kody, here for a visit, installed a turtle saver at the swimming pond. Now, the indigenous testudines no longer have to fear getting stuck in the bowels of an outlet pipe designed simply to alleviate the pressure of heavy rains.
Living at DR, I’m constantly reminded of the contrast between groups of humans merely inconvenienced by the weather (former urbanites like myself) and those whose whole lives are upended by nature’s whims. Here, those groups exist side by side and work to support each other when possible. I can’t stop the rain, but I can help cover something half-built with a tarp or prepare a warm beverage for someone stuck out in a storm.
And yet, the mood here is not totally dependent on the weather – as evidenced by the uplift I felt all around when the Supreme Court ruled this week on the Affordable Care Act and Same-Sex marriage.
I’ll leave you all with some of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, “Hymn of the Big Wheel” by Massive Attack:
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line, day by day
The earth spins on it’s axis
On [co] struggles while another relaxes
There’s a hole in my soul like a cavity
Seems like the world is out to gather just by gravity
The wheel keeps turning, the sky’s rearranging
Look my [child] the weather is changing
There’s a certain timelessness to life here, one centered around humanity’s inextricable dependence on the nature world. Yet, there’s also a sense that we’re moving forward in some way, and that with each spin of the big wheel our work is leading toward something better than what happened the last time around.
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News to Share:
You can have fun and support our work! Now that Dancing Rabbit, Inc. is a beneficiary for Climate Ride, you can experience an amazing biking or hiking adventure while supporting our outreach and education efforts! Anyone who participates in Climate Ride events (like bike rides in New England or the Midwest, and hikes in Glacier or Bryce-Zion National Parks) can choose us as their beneficiary and support our work. Now’s the time to register, so check it out for more info.
Plus there are two awesome events happening over Labor Day that we want you to know about:
August 29-Sept 6 the first ever Permaculture Design Course at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is happening and we’d love to have you join us! Find more info here.
Sept 4-7 in Virginia the Twin Oaks Communities Conference is happening! The conference offers people interested or involved in intentional communities, cooperatives, and community based projects and organizations a place to share ideas, network, and enjoy a weekend together.
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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.