Here I sit, trying to recall what happened in the last week, and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I returned late Monday after being totally off-line for over a week, camping in the Michigan woods at a wonderful women’s music festival. I had a fabulous time, and came home to a very busy village, and a ton of email. Zoinks!
Tereza here, sharing news of the week here in the ecoville.
Just after I returned there was a work party at Critterville, helping them put in fencing to protect their animals from predators. They lost a number of birds a few months ago and Vick organized a neighborly support campaign to replace the birds and help install fencing. I hear there was a good turnout, so cheers to increased security for the Critters’ critters!
Some folks from the Peace and Permaculture Center (neighbors to the Possibility Alliance in La Plata) came to Sandhill a while ago and taught a lot of new songs. Some Rabbits attended, but I was out of town and unable to go. Luckily the Sandhillians brought songs to us! Frankie, Mica and Emory came to song circle at DR and taught us several that they’d learned. A number of no-longer-regular song circle folk came too, so it was an extra fun one. I especially enjoyed seeing what an excellent memory Emory has for songs! I’ve been singing bits of the new ones in my head, but don’t have them all down quite yet. I’m hoping we’ll have another big circle this week, so we don’t totally forget all the new songs in our repertoire.
Later in the week Rae and Illly hosted a plastering work party at their house. I ran into Loren on her way out to the pond just after, and while I can’t speak for what happened at the party, from the amount of mud on her it sure looked like she’d been working hard! I hope they made amazing progress on Woodhenge, the lovely timberframe home built on the former Wabi Sabi kitchen foundation.
Friday night after community dinner there was a gathering of mostly kids and parents out at the pond. There was swimming, hot dog roasting over a bonfire, singing, telling stories, plus plans to sleep outside all night. It was a farewell evening for Jasmine and Kaylyn, who will be heading back to Colorado shortly. I only stayed for a bit but had a good time singing and chatting. According to insider reports, a stalwart few actually did stay out the whole night, braving the bugs and other night creatures… Kudos to them!
On Saturday Ironweed and the Critters got together for dinner. Apparently it started as an attempt to make more room for summer’s bounty in the Ironweed freezer by cooking up some of the large pieces of goat meat that were in there. Ted wasn’t sure how best to prepare the cuts and asked Ben for advice, which (luckily for me) blossomed into a cooperative and very tasty summer picnic dinner. There was corn on the cob, cabbage, eggplant, and goat cooked on the grill, plus potato salad, pickles, a curry dish, the best melon of the season (according to me) and perry (pear cider), not to mention lots of conversation and laughter– hip hip hooray for summer abundance shared with friends!
On Sunday we had another plenary (aka full group) meeting to choose the new OT (aka Oversight Team). The OT is the committee that oversees all the other committees by recommending staffing, making sure committees are functioning smoothly, that job descriptions are in order and sent to the Village Council for approval and/or updating as needed, as well as helping to notice any gaps in community functioning and help us figure out how to fill them.
You may recall from last week’s column that we just chose our newest Village Council, so there’s quite a bit of shift in who’s who in our community governance these days. The new OT will be Ted (the sole carry-over from the current incarnation), Thomas (returning to the team after a multi-year absence) and Katherine (who is just getting off the Council but loves the village so much she’s willing to get on another high-responsibility committee right away). Here’s a smiley just for you, Katherine 😉 We all really appreciate Kassandra and Toon’s OT service, and wish them both a very happy retirement (for now) from this committee.
And now for something completely different… kids! (The human kind, not the goat kind.) One thing I often appreciate about living in community is being able to connect with kids. For many reasons I’ve never wanted children of my own, but generally enjoy and get along well with younger humans. Here at Dancing Rabbit I get to have close connections with kids who aren’t mine, in ways that feel very fulfilling to me (and I hope to them!).
Examples? Why, yes, I can offer some… First off is that I share food and a kitchen with some of my very dearest friends. One of them just happens to be about 40 years younger than I am, and I held her the day she was born. Now, nine-ish years later, I love that Aurelia and I talk about things that interest us both (books! cats! butter!), that I can offer different perspectives than her parents and other friends, and that I learn so much from her and what she’s learning in homeschool and Spiral Scouts and from her life. The fact that I can sometimes step in when things are challenging between her and her parents to offer support, or a listening ear, or even just distraction, is icing on the cake. (Funny how her mom or dad and I might be saying the exact same thing, but it’s sometimes easier for her to hear it from me…)
Another example: at Tuesday night potluck we celebrated Hazel’s third actual birthday (happy birthday, Hazel!), and Jasmine’s not-birthday. (Jasmine’s birthday is early in the year, but she wasn’t at DR then, so she wanted to celebrate it again here.) After potluck there were games, during which Jasmine’s sister Kaylyn fell and hurt her leg. Ouch! She was crying for her mom, Kassandra, who was back at their house, so (with Kaylyn’s permission) I picked her up and held her on my lap, offering her soothing words and reiki. I asked Aurelia to go get Kassandra while I continued to offer support.
Kaylyn distracted herself by looking at the picture of the swim team in the local paper, pointing out her, her sister, and Aurelia (and telling me that Jasmine’s name wasn’t listed, while their friend Cole’s was, even though she wasn’t in the picture). By the time her mom came a few minutes later, all Kaylyn needed from her was a hug and some reassurance, and she was ready to play again. I felt glad that Kaylyn trusted me enough to step in, that I was able to help in that moment, and that her mom got a bit of a break from being “on”.
I also occasionally spend Saturday mornings with the two girls so their mom can have connection time with other grownups, and sometimes I go over around bedtime and read stories and sing songs with Kassandra and the girls, which I love. In my experience outside of community these kinds of connections among non-related folks seem to be rare, and I think that’s unfortunate.
Kids who have a lot of engaged adults around are incredibly lucky. For the most part here at DR we talk to kids like they are people, ask their opinions, really listen to them, and give them interesting opportunities, all of which helps them thrive here. (Spending a lot of time outside and eating healthy, homegrown and seasonal food helps too, I’m sure.) To me community kids seem much more articulate and emotionally mature than kids raised outside of community. I imagine it’s annoying for them sometimes, having what might seem like a bunch of “authority figures” around, but I hope and believe that to be outweighed by the benefit of almost always having someone there who can offer support or advice or help, or even shared giggles, games, and funny faces.
Community can work really well in a lot of ways, and this is one of them. Figuring out how to learn from and support each other, no matter what age (or other) differences exist is important and valuable work.
Wishing you all rich and fulfilling connections in your community!
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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.