And so ends another drama-filled week in Rutledge

Earlier this week I sent out an Ideablob email to people I had met at the Coop America Green Business Conference in Chicago. On of my favorite responses came from Sheryl at Twisted Limb Paperworks. It turns out the she is one of the winners of this years Eileen Fisher $10,000 grants. It is so exciting! And it couldn't go to a cooler company! It was so fun to answer her questions about what happened in New York when, as a 2007 winner, I got to hang out with Eileen Fisher (oh, yeah. We're like this!). All I could say was that it was just like being a fairy princess; all of the work had been done, and it was time to sit back and bask in the loving attention. Be sure to check out Twisted Limb's website, and sign up for their newsletter - there are always really interesting tidbits in it!

I have continued to receive wonderful, supportive emails from people I haven't had the opportunity to meet yet, for which I am incredibly grateful. We have until Tuesday at midnight, and I'm going to keep working on the Ideablob thing until then. And if we do not win, I'll be disappointed (because we could really use the $) but honestly, I am healthy, happy, doing work I love, with amazing support and enthusiasm from a community both known and unknown. What, really, could be better? World peace. A new president. And a really good Chinese take-out place in downtown Rutledge. But I'll settle for what I have.

Our friend Julie, whose daughter wants to be a horse, is coming for the day (the pony and the husband are staying home in St. Louis for this trip). We'll spend the afternoon over at the Sorghum Fest at Sandhill (where I get to talk into a microphone!) and then come back here to yap away. Life is good.

Maggie P., future pony

Thanks again for reading, and I'll write more soon.

My so-called life (or, Alline Blathers on...)

As I'm sure you've noticed, I've been obsessed of late with the Ideablob contest. (What? You haven't voted yet? Go here, now, and do so!). We're still number two, which is quite honorable, but Project H Design is wiping the floor with us and slam-dunking us into the nearest dumpster.

Back when I played basketball in college I learned a valuable lesson from a coach that, up until then, I had considered to be ruthless and a bit heartless. But the day we played a team that wasn't as good as we were, and got to be 40 points ahead, she said "enough." We still did our best, but with the coach's blessing felt no need to win by a hundred points, which we easily could have done. I wish the Project H people would go have a celebratory party somewhere, and all get divinely drunk and stop all the voting hoo ha.

Aside from LOSING, the Ideablob contest has been really wonderful. I just did an online interview with Mike Sowden of Ecosalon. He asked great questions, which were a blast to answer. The interview was also a reminder of why I am starting this business, of what is most important to me, and I hope will help me keep MY BITTER CRUSHING DEFEAT in perspective. The Mercantile is getting amazing press (that is, SOME press, rather than none), and people are reading through our website, even if they are not buying anything yet. Yet! I remain hopeful. Is this how people who launched businesses in June of 1929 felt? Jeez, I hope that the stock market woes of late will not be anything like what happened in the 30's. Because what am I going to do with 30 recycled coffee tumblers, dozens of organic cotton/hemp menstrual pads, a dozen trash cans woven out of trash (so clever!), a couple dozen jars of organic cuticle cream, hand lotion, cleansing gel and four dozen bars of soap with names like Filthy Viking and Swashbuckler? We'll all be very clean, delightfully scented with dazzling cuticles during the depression.

Wonderful, talented, fablous Ziggy filmed a short promotional video for the Merantile and put it up on DRTV today. I look fat, exhausted, and in need of a good hair cut, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. He did such a great job. Now vote, darn it, vote!

The days are getting shorter, and fall is really in the air. What sounds like a cliche is based in truth. The sun is lower, the light a bit more diffused, and the poison ivy is turning a spectacular bright red. It always reminds me of the year some of our wonderful interns decorated for our annual Land Day party which is held each October. They made stunningly beautiful floral arrangements; unfortunately what they used were big bunches of golden rod and rag weed, with poison ivy trailing out of the vases and along the tables. They made one itch just to look at them.

Gotta go. I'm not going to wait up for the results tonight. It's funny how much more I liked this contest when we were winning!

LIfe is good!

Today I've been perusing all of my favorite eco-blogs and websites, considering who to write (i.e. grovel) and ask for support re: Ideablob. And then I stopped by Google Analytics, which is my new geek toy, and found that we've been getting hits from EcoSalon. Hmmm....

So I went there. It is a lovely site, with really good writing and thoughtful articles. It is affilitated with Viva Terra, the store I absolutely lust after, which was created by retail visionary XXX. Anyway, look what I found when I got there:

"There's an eco-artisan company in Northeastern Missouri that isn't just satisfied with promoting ecological sustainability - it's running its whole business on it.

The Milkweed Mercantile (part of the Dancing Rabbit eco-village, recently featuring on Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days") are a cooperative with a fascinating business model. The business is owned equally by all employees, who all receive the same hourly wage and equal share of the end-of-year profits. But it's not just about blowing a raspberry in the face of traditional American business practices. Like Dancing Rabbit, The Milkweek Mercantile is energy-independent: power is locally-generated and renewable, building materials are sustainable, gardens are organic, and the fuel for the company's share-owned vehicles (no single owners) is bio-diesel. The message? You can live entirely by your eco-principles and turn a profit. Our applause is deafening."

Amazing! The author, Mike Sowden, REALLY gets it! Sigh.

And by tonight we'll be finalists in the Ideablob ordeal, um, contest. It would be fair to say that this has not been my most sustainably-lived week - I'm kind of a wreck.

Voting in the finals begins at 12:01 a.m. tonight. Please, please please tell your friends, your parents, your Aunt Ethel and crazy Charlie your neighbor.

Sending love and thanks,
Alline

Getting there is half the fun!

A Vintage Farmall tractor in the Rutledge Fall Festival Parade (all ten minutes of it!).

Oren Erickson and a vintage Farmall tractor

We're still doing well on Ideablob. Tomorrow is the last day for the "sprint," then we have a week of final votes. I found the Mercantile mentioned on a blog called "Work at Home Truth". Check it out here. It's nice to know that we have friends everywhere!

Today was the annual Rutledge Fall Festival. It was really fun as usual. Where else can you watch a parade that is, at most, 10-minutes long? There were two hot cars, two not-so-hot cars, four political candidates (throwing candy to the kids), 8 very cool vintage tractors and a bunch of kids and adults with face paint on bikes. Hmmmm, who do you suppose were the Rabbits?

L to R: Ant, Ewan, Ted, Cynder, Aurelia, Morgan, Sierra, a Super Hero

Denny Clatt for Eastern County Commissioner!

I want one of these for my garden!

Also joining us (in the parade and at DR) this week are the Super Heros. A group of about 25 enthusiastic, fun people who are interested in making the world a better place, they ride around on their bikes doing good deeds. They all wear capes, have 'super hero' names ("Compassionate Man," "Super OK with himself Guy"), and are just a delight. They're camping here at DR for 3 days, doing a day of work each at DR, Sandhill and Red Earth Farms. Friday they helped bale the Mercantile, stomped cob with Annie, washed Tereza's windows, and lots of other things I don't know about.

L to R: Sierra, Super Hero, Queen Bee, Cob (aka Crazy Hat Man), two more Super Heroes

Glam Jan

More tomorrow!

Honored and Overwhemed

The South side of the Mercantile. The shingles, which are just scrap pieces of wood from the Shannon Pallet Mill, have been covered with a BioShield oak stain (low VOC, etc.), and the trim and doors painted with two shades of green and a dark indigo. The bales are almost all in - yay!

We have two days left for the Ideablob "sprint," when we'll find out if we'll be going forward to the finals (to win $20,000). It has been an amazing experience. Working so long in my head, with Kurt and a few friends, it has sometimes been hard to hold to vision. I know in my heart what I want to do, what I want to accomplish here at and for Dancing Rabbit, what kind of heart- and earth-centered business I dream of.

Putting it all out there to be voted on was exciting and terrifying. I sent out emails to everyone I could think of. Friends, family, people we've hiked with, former interns and visitors, the women at Eileen Fisher, friends of friends, the people who read Dancing Rabbit's website, the people who have signed up for the Mercantile website...and asked for their help.

And it has poured in. I sit, geek-i-fied to the core, watching the votes scroll by. Many names (and pseudonames) I recognize: Stan Katz (Rachel's dad), Lou Wilkinson (from the Sierra Club), Shining Uni (hi Nicole!), Silicon Valley Rebel (our favorite singer and yoga teacher), FCicela (a friend of DR), SDuffy (my business coach), ZiggyFresh, LatinGrrrl, Tamar, Alyssa, ScratchyDad (Rabbits, all). I am humbled, and grateful, overwhelmed, and weepy. Thank you so much for believing in what we are trying to accomplish. We will work hard to be deserving of your votes!

The Mercantile from the front - love those dormer windows! The porch in front of the bay window (on the right) has been completed, the rest we're working on. The concrete pad on the left is the cistern lid - under it lurks 7,000 gallons of water!

Idea Blob - with your help we can succeed!

Our business here at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, the Milkweed Mercantile, is in the running for a $10K award with a website called Ideablob. As incredible as it sounds, the winner is determined each month simply by who gets the most online votes.

It seemed crazy NOT to apply. We are hoping our extended community of friends and supporters will help us get the financing we need to FINALLY open this December.

What we need from you: THREE minutes of your time now (between now and midnight Saturday, Sept. 20) and one minute next week (Sept. 21-27 for the final vote). These four minutes could make an enormous difference in the success of the Milkweed Mercantile. And it will cost you nothing.

To vote for us you will need to go to the Ideablob website, register, confirm the registration in your email, and then go back to the Ideablob website and vote for us. We timed it, and it takes less than 3 minutes.

To register and vote now, click here: http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/3233-Strawbale-off-grid-business-ope

This kind of "no-strings attached" grant is ideal for us. If we win we also qualify for an additional $10K (which is donated each month by the Advanta Credit card company if the winner holds an Advanta card. When we decided to enter the contest, I applied and got one). Our goal is to use the $20k towards a windturbine and tower (which will cost approximately $40,000). Being sustainable isn't cheap!

Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate your support. If you have friends who might help us we would appreciate it if you would forward this to them. We are available to answer any questions at any time.

We understand that people are often reluctant to register at online sites. I registered at Ideablob 5 months ago and only hear from them once a month when they ask me to vote for the best idea of the month. One could also 'unsubscribe' after the final vote (for us) during the week of 9/21-27.

A bit more about us: In order to remain as ethical as possible we do not accept advertising on our website, nor do we have outside investors. This means that we're operating on a shoestring BUT we don't have to answer to anyone but ourselves - the Mercantile is run cooperatively, and is profit-sharing. Our goal is to be a business incubator for members of Dancing Rabbit, enabling people here to earn a living doing what they believe in most - sustainablilty, caring for the earth, and sharing what we've learned.For even more info see our website: http://milkweedmercantile.com

Thanks again!

P.S It is now 9:23 a.m. Someone named "wutaweirdo" just voted for the Mercantile on Ideablob. Yesterday, among with all of the friends I recognized, was someone named "EspressoMonkey." How ever this ends, it has been a lot of fun along the way!

Oh, how I love Writer's Almanac

It appears each day in my in-box. The Writer's Almanac for September 17, 2008, it will announce. Some days I'm simply too busy to open it - my mind filled with inventory, paying taxes, baking cookies for the potluck and teaching the neighbor kid to crochet. But when I do open it, sometimes I get a treat, a delight, a poem so good I start to speak out loud to myself: "Ohhhh, that is SO good!"

Today is one of those days. My everyday, non-smoking, non-drinking, happily married life is so, well, mundane. Oatmeal for breakfast (oooh! pancakes on Sunday!), laundry, email, meetings, lunch, bla bla bla. How many times, while reading one of the thousands of books I have devoured over the years, have I compared myself to the people within its pages? How I long to be sophisticated, always armed with a snappy come-back. Or dressed so divinely that all conversation stops when I enter a room. Or to be a part of the British upper crust (Brideshead Revisited), or to drink in a smoky Scottish bar (Garnethill by Denise Mina), or watch the tarpon spin off of Sanibel Island (the Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White), be a fly on the wall in Tony Bordain's kitchen (Kitchen Confidential), hunt for wild grapes with Edna Lewis (The Taste of Country Cooking), or be a wise older woman (Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk).

Some things in books I am thrilled NOT to experience: finding a murdered man in my living room (more Denise Mina), particpate in the horrors of war (Pat Barker's Regeneration, Robert Graves' Good Bye to All That), feel the total disorientation of the after effects of a lightening strike (A Match to the Heart by Gretel Erlich), the grinding poverty of Ireland during the famine (too many to mention)...

ronald Wallace captures this disconnect perfectly. So here is today's poem. Enjoy.

Literature in the 21st Century
by Ronald Wallace

Sometimes I wish I drank coffee
or smoked Marlboros, or maybe cigars—
yes, a hand-rolled Havana cigar
in its thick, manly wrapping,
the flash of the match between
worn matchbook and stained forefinger,
the cup of the palm at the tip,
the intake of air, and the slow and
luxuriant, potent and pleasurable
exhale. Shall we say also a glass
of claret? Or some sherry with its
dark star, the smoke blown into the bowl
of the glass, like fog on portentous
morning, the rich man-smell of gabardine
and wool, of money it its gold clip?

Sometimes I wish I had habits
a man wouldn't kick, faults a good man could
be proud of. I'd be an expatriate from
myself, all ink-pen and paper in a Paris café
where the waiters were elegant and surly,
the women relaxed and extravagant
with their bobbed hair and bonbons, their
perfumed Galoises, their oysters and canapés,
and I'd be writing about war and old losses—
man things-and not where I am, in this
pristine and sensitive vessel, all
fizzy water, reticence, and care, all reduced
fat and purified air, behind my deprived
computer, where I can't manage even
a decaf cap, a mild Tiparillo, a glass of
great-taste-less-filling light beer.

"Literature in the 21st Century" by Ronald Wallace from Long for This World: New and Selected Poems. © University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003.