Memphis Democrat Column Week of 8/24/09

Greetings from Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, where the men play Frisbee, the women are elegant even in steamy weather, and the children change their names just because they can! This is Alline reporting.

It’s been another fabulous week here in Rutledge, Missouri. Lots of comings and goings – Liat spent the week down in LaPlata at the Possiblity Alliance participating in a course in Permaculture (learn more see our friends at the Permaculture Activist: http://tinyurl.com/4jsgrz). Tamar is back east visiting family. Tony, Jennifer and her merry band of Work Exchangers (Horacio, Owen, Alex and David) went to St. Louis for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament and a side trip to the Botanical Garden and the very cool City Museum (http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp). They reportedly had a great time frolicking on the crazy structures that are on the roof of the building. Ted has returned home from Argentina (where he traveled with his father), Brian returned from a week in Chicago, and Lily is back from a wedding in Southern California – both traveled by train. Penn and Laura, both former Dancing Rabbit members, stop in a visit every couple of weeks, including last Saturday. A group of 13 visitors has arrived; some stayed a few days, some are staying three weeks. We’re happy to have them here! MaryBeth hosted musician Leslie Sanazaro (http://www.lesliesanazaro.com/index.htm) who played a house concert for us. And Ma’ikwe and Enzio just left for a family reunion at M’s brother’s farm in Michigan. Whew!

In other news, school has begun – parents cheer and kids, well, we suspect they love it in spite of themselves. Three DR kids go to Memphis every morning (the bus comes right down our road, and is driven by Roger, our very favorite bus driver). Two others, Duncan and Enzio (formerly known as Jibran) have begun studying here at home with new resident Sharon. She is a certified teacher with a deep interest in ecology, a great love of Latin America (she co-owns a cacao farm in Ecuador), and a passion for teaching and learning- especially experientially. Just the other day I observed Duncan and Enzio learning Spanish, building models of molecules out of clay and working on bicycles – all in one day!

We have just discovered that our friends at Hopkins Lumber are able to procure FSC-certified lumber for us. Here at Dancing Rabbit we have an Ecological Covenant that calls for all building materials to be reclaimed or harvested from sustainable bioregional sources (you can view our Ecological Covenants here: http://www.dancingrabbit.org/vision/covenants.php). The Forest Stewardship Council is an independent organization that certifies that forests are being responsibly maintained rather than clear-cut (more info here: http://tinyurl.com/7gbs64). We are also excited to be able to get Ainsworth OSB (oriented strand board), an FSC certified product which is manufactured in three Minnesota mills. We do a lot of building demolition to reclaim useable wood, but it is also reassuring that we are able to purchase some when we need to. Which brings us to the question “what exactly is considered bioregional? And what IS a bioregion, anyway?” Why, what excellent questions!

Consider this: what would North America (or any continent) look like without the artificially imposed, invisible political boundaries of state and nation? The political and economic lines that humans have drawn on the landscapes of the continent have made the true nature of the land invisible (where do the rivers flow and what land is encompassed within their watersheds? Where are the mountain ranges, the valleys, the deserts?). These human-imposed lines are not seen by any other species with which we share the planet. Plants, animals, and water interact within the landscapes using natural boundaries. Why can’t we? One powerful way to connect ourselves to the rest of life in the landscape around us is to become aware of these natural subdivisions. To view maps of North America bioregions please go to this link at the EPA site: http://tinyurl.com/mdzd7a. Even better, please visit the site of the 10th Bioregional Congress (http://biocongress.org/). Taking place October 3-11th at The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee, this remarkable event is life changing, life affirming and an extraordinary way to nurture a deep sense of place. I had the opportunity to attend one in 2002 in the Kansas Watershed and found a whole new way of referencing the concept of home. Highly recommended!

Back here at Dancing Rabbit in the Great Plains bio-region, Ziggy ordered “a canning quantity” of tomatoes from some local farmer friends and was astounded when 280 lbs of tomatoes arrived. He abdicated, giving full control of the tomatoes to the Sunflower cooperative. Almost a dozen volunteers have been canning tomatoes non-stop for three days now, and when they’re finished will have an impressive pantry from which to eat this winter. Summer in a jar!

Since they had gained a lot of time by not canning tomatoes, Ziggy and April did a test fire of the cob oven that they have been building (some photos here: http://tinyurl.com/nq3qw5). We were delighted when April knocked on our door Sunday night bearing a wood cutting board covered in focaccia rounds fresh out of the oven. Yum!

Speaking of canning jars, if you or anyone you know has some useable (not nicked about the mouth) canning jars that you would like to donate, we would be happy to give them good homes. Please call the Dancing Rabbit number and leave a message (660) 883-5511. That’s it for now. Thanks for reading!

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community in Rutledge, Missouri practicing ecological sustainability. We offer tours 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month through October – our next tour is scheduled September 12th at 1:00 p.m. Our annual Open House is coming up in October – stay tuned for details! For more information, check out our website at www.dancingrabbit.org, or give us a call at (660) 883-5511.