Memphis Democrat
July 28, 2008

Warm humid greetings from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage! This is Alline with this week’s report.

Huge, thundering storms continued unabated this week. Last night, in addition to thunder that literally shook the house we received a pounding 1 ½” of rain. Tom Cowen, our unofficial rain gauge keeper says that we received an additional 2” this past week. Many of us have become devoted weather watchers since so much of what we do is outside and easily affected by the weather. Kurt checks http://www.noaa.gov several times a day for updates, and other sites to watch storm radar. Can you tell we don’t have TV?

The good news is that we may never have to water our gardens again, and the skies are absolutely spectacular. It is a regular Cirque du Ciel around here. Prompted by Annie, I was inspired to join the Cloud Appreciation Society. Out of England, it consists of nothing but folks who appreciate really pretty clouds. There are no tests – one does not have to be able to tell a cumulonimbus from a cirrocumulus, just be willing to oooh and ahhh when appropriate.

While wandering around the village this morning looking for hot stories to report, I came upon Sara and Aurelia in the Common House kids’ room. Aurelia (age 2) was happily reading a story to her doll, swaying back and forth in the rocking chair. Sara had a few extra minutes to read to herself, although all that was handy, she pointed out with a grin, was another children’s book. Aurelia then told me about how she and her mother had gone swimming in the pond, and that Papa (Ted) had taken her for a (very slow, careful, supervised and inches from the shore) ride in a kayak. She was ecstatic.

We harvested our first peaches this week. Sierra and Angela made several lucious peach cobblers, and Liat made a gorgeous peach and blackberry salad just in time for the arrival of Lonnie Gamble’s Big Green Summer Group from Fairfield, Iowa. They came for a tour, and we hope to see them all again soon!

Jeff and Matt and very happy to have finished filling the foundation of their house with gravel, and are preparing for the next steps. What they are doing is a fantastic model of community and cooperation - Jeff is helping Matt build his house and then Matt will help Jeff with his. Life is good.

And speaking of Matt, he has joined Dan Steinke and Jan in a Nonviolent Communication Study Group. Nonviolent Communication is not exactly what it sounds like – I confess I first envisioned a process where one agreed not to hit one’s fellow conversationalists with a baseball bat. Instead, it is a communication process that helps people to exchange the information necessary to resolve conflicts and differences peacefully. Created by psychologist and visionary leader Marshall Rosenberg it is a marvelous tool that is as effective in organizations as it is when implemented in one’s every day life. For more on NVC please see http://www.cnvc.org/.

It is a pleasure to have Dan S. back with us for a while. He is devoting half of his time to community service, and we were delighted when he chose to build a dock for the new pond as his first project (because as everyone knows, Rabbits love to swim).

Brian/Ziggy has returned from New Jersey just in time to race out with tarps to cover his under-construction house in a torrential rainstorm. Life at Dancing Rabbit is never dull!

Liat’s friend Joanna has arrived for a visit. Liat has clearly learned the DR maxim: while building a house it is a great time to invite one’s friends to visit. Additionally, we benefit by getting to meet many of her charming friends.

Annie and Tim have been working hard to bring the Outdoor Kitchen back to the efficiency of its former glory. Also in the OK, Gen and Jeff constructed a cob rocket stove (a very efficient, very hot, wood-burning stove) in the shape of a face. One feeds the wood in through the mouth, and all of the smoke comes out the top of the “head.” Hmmmm, this reminds me of a former boss, but we don’t need to go into that here.

Annie showed the first episode of the award-winning nature documentary Planet Earth series on Sunday, and will show the remaining ten episodes in weeks to come. We are reminded that our planet is indeed a vast and beautiful yet fragile place, and definitely worth protecting.

Meadow, Tamar, Amy, Tereza and I traveled down to Louisiana, Missouri for a women’s weekend. Sponsored by Woman Within International, we learned how to communicate with and support one another more effectively, and how to set up a women’s group here in our own community. It was a marvelous experience, and a reminder of just how courageous and powerful women truly are. A Marianne Williamson quote from the WIW website summarizes the weekend for me; “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” We participated in a big potluck on Saturday night, and it was gratifying to hear the oohs and aahhhhs when the other women caught sight of the ripe red tomatoes fresh from Tamar’s garden, and Meadow’s beautiful loaves of bread.

Kurt continues to work on the Milkweed Mercantile building. On Friday he and Tom placed the huge bay window into its place at the front of the store. Tom has also been working on the porch, which, when completed will wrap around three sides of the building. We look at it longingly, and with anticipation of long summer evenings with icy drinks in hand.

That’s it for this week. We send good wishes to you all, and hope that you are well, happy and safe.

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