Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Murmuration of Starlings - STUNNING!
Today Tereza and I had our weekly Art Date. Sometimes not much art happens, but we invariably have a great time. This week our date happeend to be on Tuesday morning, when Alyson is waking up the sourdough starter for her weekly bake on Wednesday. In the midst of a lively conversation and lots of catching up, Tereza mentioned the video of a murmuration of starlings. Huh?
Watch this video. It is absolutely breathtaking. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to be paddling along and then have this happen right above my head. Sometimes nature knocks my freaking socks off.
More ecovillage schmoo later. In the meantime, take a walk, enjoy the leaves and the sun and the wind and whatever is happening in your neck of the woods.
love,
Alline
Friday, November 4, 2011
Don't be Afraid! Composting Toilets at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage
Oh, my. Just what is it about composting toilets that get folks in such a tizzy? It's the one thing that always gets commented on by guests and visitors, and the thing that most new people are most anxious about.
I suppose it's because it is much easier to flush and never think about where everything is going. To actually enable our "waste" to turn into a valuable resource requires us to think outside of the proverbial box, veers into the icky and sends the squeamish into paroxysms of phobic over-reaction. Even my own mother, when learning about our toilet system, put her hand dramatically to her forehead and sighed "oh, Alline, we worked so hard so that you would have indoor plumbing." Sheesh.
So let's get down to business. As the book title says, Everyone Poops.
Here at Dancing Rabbit (and Red Earth Farms, and Sandhill Farm) we do have indoor plumbing. We have running water and everything. We just choose not to mix our beautiful, pure, clean drinking water with our waste (Note: I am writing a post about our rainwater cisterns and will have it up here soon!).
In his book The Toilet Papers, Sim Van der Ryn says:
Throughout this book, you will find the word "waste" used to refer to those raw materials-feces and urine-your body passes on to make energy available to some other form of life. This is what you give back to the earth. The idea of waste, of something unusable, reveals an incomplete understanding of how things work. Nature admits no waste. Nothing is left over; everything is joined in the spiral of life. Perhaps other cultures know this better than we, for they have no concept of, no word for, waste.
In our home, and around Dancing Rabbit, most folks use the Humanure System popularized by Joe Jenkins. I was a little skeptical at first, while reading about this at home in Berkeley before moving to DR. How could it not smell? Could it really not be gross? I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived and actually used the system. After each use one adds a handful of sawdust or wood shavings, which really does work. How? Through the miracle of thermophilic composting, which is just a fancy schmancy way of saying that the bacteria essentially cooks itself into beautiful soil:
In many backyard compost piles... mid range bacteria do most of the work. However, if conditions are right they produce enough heat to activate the "thermophilic", or heat loving bacteria. Thermophilic bacteria work fast. Their optimum temperature range is from 104°F to 160°F. This natural heat further encourages the rapid growth of more thermophilic bacteria, until all of the original organic material is digested and broken-down into a stabilized and homogenized nutrient- rich soil product.
As a gardener, and an environmentalist, I was already a believer and great fan of compost - we had been composting food scraps and garden "waste" for years. The rich black soil created from what had previously been potato peelings, apple cores, coffee grounds, paper napkins, dried leaves, grass clippings and egg shells was astounding. What a great, free resource! And it also alleviates the guilt that often comes from harboring "science experiments" in the fridge a bit too long - we're not wasting food, we're recycling it! Additionally, it is a great way to reclaim nutrients from your garden - both "green" and "brown" garden debris (leaves, grass, deadheaded flowers, etc.) stay out of the landfill and boost future garden productivity.
The Humanure System is equally efficient. Here in Northeastern Missouri the soil is clay-y and dense, and not suitable for septic systems. There is no county sewage system to hook in to. So even if we weren't gung-ho environmentalists the options are limited. Which actually turned out to be a plus for us.
The Humanure System consists of a 5-gallon bucket, a toilet seat, some sawdust, and a compost pile outside. Handy to have for beginners is a compost thermometer. The entire book is online, as are helpful videos (see link above). Not exactly an ideal system for high-rise dwellers, but something to consider for others with a yard or some acreage.
Most houses here at DR have their own Humey toilet.
This is in the still-under-construction Milkweed Cottage. A simply constructed wood box, sized to fit a tall 5-gallon bucket. A bucket of wood shavings next to it. TP holder on the opposite wall and cat on the windowsill out of view in this shot.
A few houses have their own compost piles, others dump their buckets in the community humey bins, which are also where the buckets from the Community Building and the community outhouse are dumped. A humey shift is one of the rotational duties that all members of Dancing Rabbit agree to do. The finished compost goes on fruit trees in the community orchard.
Hauling buckets for a couple of people in one's own household, or being part of a cooperative system with 50-something people particpating feels manageable. But when it came time to choose a toilet system in the Milkweed Mercantile, Kurt and I wanted to be spending our time talking with our guests, not emptying buckets. A commercial composting toilet seemed to be an ideal solution.
We chose the Phoenix Composting Toilet from Advanced Composting Systems. A pdf of a cutaway drawing of the toilet can be viewed here.
We like it a lot - it is easy to maintain, holds a lot, and is fairly innocuous, as toilets go. Guests have confessed (after spending the night, getting to know us a bit and becoming comfortable here) that they were nervous about the toilets. Then they go on to tell us that the toilets were great, and exclaim "...and they (the toilets) don't smell at all!" We've asked them to include this info in their reviews on Trip Advisor and/or Bedandbreakfast.com but so far no one has. Folks don't talk about toilets much...
The upstairs Mercantile bathroom. Scary toilet on the left. Antique dresser revamped into a sink on the right.
In the center - 18" thick straw bale wall.
Gene Lodgson wrote a book called Holy Shit; Managing Manure to Save Mankind where he makes the case for composting toilets. Publisher's Weekly had this to say about it:
Common sense and just the right amount of folksy humor make this treatise on feces a pleasure to read whether or not you've ever knowingly come within 50 miles of a compost heap. Logsdon writes for a wide scope: how to recognize a manure spreader for those who don't know; the finer points of old-fashioned pitchfork tines, for readers who actually use them. In addition to lots of clear DIY instructions for utilizing waste, Logsdon, a blogging farmer in Ohio, draws from his boyhood experience during the days of the privy, his Amish neighbors, and his understanding of how ancient China saw agricultural productivity rates the likes of which we've never had in the U.S. Ultimately, the real coup here is that this book overcomes the yuck factor and illustrates how, as with many things American, we've taken a natural, healthy, efficient system and replaced it with something expensive, toxic, and marketable - in this case, chemical fertilizers. As food locavores gain visibility and popularity, so too should the rear end of sustainable farming practices.
So consider getting over your yuck factor. Think about how things really work. Maybe composting toilets aren't such a crazy idea after all?
Love, Alline
I suppose it's because it is much easier to flush and never think about where everything is going. To actually enable our "waste" to turn into a valuable resource requires us to think outside of the proverbial box, veers into the icky and sends the squeamish into paroxysms of phobic over-reaction. Even my own mother, when learning about our toilet system, put her hand dramatically to her forehead and sighed "oh, Alline, we worked so hard so that you would have indoor plumbing." Sheesh.
So let's get down to business. As the book title says, Everyone Poops.
Here at Dancing Rabbit (and Red Earth Farms, and Sandhill Farm) we do have indoor plumbing. We have running water and everything. We just choose not to mix our beautiful, pure, clean drinking water with our waste (Note: I am writing a post about our rainwater cisterns and will have it up here soon!).
In his book The Toilet Papers, Sim Van der Ryn says:
Throughout this book, you will find the word "waste" used to refer to those raw materials-feces and urine-your body passes on to make energy available to some other form of life. This is what you give back to the earth. The idea of waste, of something unusable, reveals an incomplete understanding of how things work. Nature admits no waste. Nothing is left over; everything is joined in the spiral of life. Perhaps other cultures know this better than we, for they have no concept of, no word for, waste.
In our home, and around Dancing Rabbit, most folks use the Humanure System popularized by Joe Jenkins. I was a little skeptical at first, while reading about this at home in Berkeley before moving to DR. How could it not smell? Could it really not be gross? I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived and actually used the system. After each use one adds a handful of sawdust or wood shavings, which really does work. How? Through the miracle of thermophilic composting, which is just a fancy schmancy way of saying that the bacteria essentially cooks itself into beautiful soil:
In many backyard compost piles... mid range bacteria do most of the work. However, if conditions are right they produce enough heat to activate the "thermophilic", or heat loving bacteria. Thermophilic bacteria work fast. Their optimum temperature range is from 104°F to 160°F. This natural heat further encourages the rapid growth of more thermophilic bacteria, until all of the original organic material is digested and broken-down into a stabilized and homogenized nutrient- rich soil product.
As a gardener, and an environmentalist, I was already a believer and great fan of compost - we had been composting food scraps and garden "waste" for years. The rich black soil created from what had previously been potato peelings, apple cores, coffee grounds, paper napkins, dried leaves, grass clippings and egg shells was astounding. What a great, free resource! And it also alleviates the guilt that often comes from harboring "science experiments" in the fridge a bit too long - we're not wasting food, we're recycling it! Additionally, it is a great way to reclaim nutrients from your garden - both "green" and "brown" garden debris (leaves, grass, deadheaded flowers, etc.) stay out of the landfill and boost future garden productivity.
The Humanure System is equally efficient. Here in Northeastern Missouri the soil is clay-y and dense, and not suitable for septic systems. There is no county sewage system to hook in to. So even if we weren't gung-ho environmentalists the options are limited. Which actually turned out to be a plus for us.
The Humanure System consists of a 5-gallon bucket, a toilet seat, some sawdust, and a compost pile outside. Handy to have for beginners is a compost thermometer. The entire book is online, as are helpful videos (see link above). Not exactly an ideal system for high-rise dwellers, but something to consider for others with a yard or some acreage.
Most houses here at DR have their own Humey toilet.
This is in the still-under-construction Milkweed Cottage. A simply constructed wood box, sized to fit a tall 5-gallon bucket. A bucket of wood shavings next to it. TP holder on the opposite wall and cat on the windowsill out of view in this shot.
Over at Bluestem is the glitziest pooper on the farm. (Please note that I did not give them any advance warning or the opportunity to sweep - I just showed up at the door and asked Tereza if I could take a photograph. Where else does your neighbor appear
out of the blue and ask to shoot your toilet?
Ah, life at Dancing Rabbit).
Tom made this 17-sided beauty. Apparently it was supposed to be 16-sided, and there was much swearing and frustration trying to get all the pieces to fit. It was only after he finished and counted that he realized that the difficulty came from the extra piece. Oops.
Regardless, it is rather elegant.
This is a peek in the door of one side of the DR Outhouse. Sorry about the poor lighting. The outhouse features a Dutch door (for viewing scenery as you, um, sit) and side-by-side poopers - bring a friend! The toilet seats are attached to the plywood top, which lifts up (on hinges) in order to empty the buckets. It's a lot easier than it sounds.
A few houses have their own compost piles, others dump their buckets in the community humey bins, which are also where the buckets from the Community Building and the community outhouse are dumped. A humey shift is one of the rotational duties that all members of Dancing Rabbit agree to do. The finished compost goes on fruit trees in the community orchard.
Hauling buckets for a couple of people in one's own household, or being part of a cooperative system with 50-something people particpating feels manageable. But when it came time to choose a toilet system in the Milkweed Mercantile, Kurt and I wanted to be spending our time talking with our guests, not emptying buckets. A commercial composting toilet seemed to be an ideal solution.
We chose the Phoenix Composting Toilet from Advanced Composting Systems. A pdf of a cutaway drawing of the toilet can be viewed here.
We like it a lot - it is easy to maintain, holds a lot, and is fairly innocuous, as toilets go. Guests have confessed (after spending the night, getting to know us a bit and becoming comfortable here) that they were nervous about the toilets. Then they go on to tell us that the toilets were great, and exclaim "...and they (the toilets) don't smell at all!" We've asked them to include this info in their reviews on Trip Advisor and/or Bedandbreakfast.com but so far no one has. Folks don't talk about toilets much...
 |
Here's Kurt putting together the Phoenix Composting Toilet (or, Still Life with Coffee Cup). The bottom two sections are on the left, and the top section is upside down on the right. |
A view of the tines inside the Phoenix.
More fun in the basement.
The upstairs Mercantile bathroom. Scary toilet on the left. Antique dresser revamped into a sink on the right.
In the center - 18" thick straw bale wall.
Gene Lodgson wrote a book called Holy Shit; Managing Manure to Save Mankind where he makes the case for composting toilets. Publisher's Weekly had this to say about it:
Common sense and just the right amount of folksy humor make this treatise on feces a pleasure to read whether or not you've ever knowingly come within 50 miles of a compost heap. Logsdon writes for a wide scope: how to recognize a manure spreader for those who don't know; the finer points of old-fashioned pitchfork tines, for readers who actually use them. In addition to lots of clear DIY instructions for utilizing waste, Logsdon, a blogging farmer in Ohio, draws from his boyhood experience during the days of the privy, his Amish neighbors, and his understanding of how ancient China saw agricultural productivity rates the likes of which we've never had in the U.S. Ultimately, the real coup here is that this book overcomes the yuck factor and illustrates how, as with many things American, we've taken a natural, healthy, efficient system and replaced it with something expensive, toxic, and marketable - in this case, chemical fertilizers. As food locavores gain visibility and popularity, so too should the rear end of sustainable farming practices.
So consider getting over your yuck factor. Think about how things really work. Maybe composting toilets aren't such a crazy idea after all?
Love, Alline
Occupy Your Life - Put Your Money Where It Matters
Something that keeps coming to mind with all of the Occupy Everywhere protests is curiosity about where people are keeping their money. Regardless of how little you have, it seems to me that it (and you) are much better served in a local bank which invests in your own community.
I was excited to receive an email from the Social Venture Network talking about the Move Your Money Project and Bank Transfer Day, November 5th, 2011.
Here is an excerpt from their website:
Moving your money out of the big Wall Street banks to small community banks and credit unions is a great idea for a number of reasons:
INVEST IN MAIN STREET, NOT WALL STREET
An important call-to-action that came up during that meeting is the "Move Your Money Project," also known as Bank Transfer Day, November 5th, 2011. If you haven't already, we encourage you to move your money this week and put your assets in financial institutions that have a social mission that’s aligned with your values.
Here's a partial list of financial organizations to consider:
• Calvert Group
• Domini Social Investments
• Ocean Endowment Partners
• New Resource Bank
• RSF Social Finance
• SocialK
• Sunrise Community Banks
• Trillium Asset Management
• Vancity
Late addition: just found this on Facebook (so you know it's true!)
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Alline
I was excited to receive an email from the Social Venture Network talking about the Move Your Money Project and Bank Transfer Day, November 5th, 2011.
Here is an excerpt from their website:
Moving your money out of the big Wall Street banks to small community banks and credit unions is a great idea for a number of reasons:
- you will get better rates and fewer fees
- your comunity banker will learn your name and provide you with more personal service
- you will be keeping money in your local community which increases economic development and eventually, creates more jobs.
INVEST IN MAIN STREET, NOT WALL STREET
When you keep your money in a local financial institution, that money in turn is reinvested in local businesses, which is important for building a stable economy and encouraging local growth. Put your money in the big Wall Street banks however, and they will use your deposits to make risky investments, gambling at the expense of the economy as a whole.
An important call-to-action that came up during that meeting is the "Move Your Money Project," also known as Bank Transfer Day, November 5th, 2011. If you haven't already, we encourage you to move your money this week and put your assets in financial institutions that have a social mission that’s aligned with your values.
Here's a partial list of financial organizations to consider:
• Calvert Group
• Domini Social Investments
• Ocean Endowment Partners
• New Resource Bank
• RSF Social Finance
• SocialK
• Sunrise Community Banks
• Trillium Asset Management
• Vancity
Late addition: just found this on Facebook (so you know it's true!)
Love,
Alline
Friday, October 7, 2011
Milkweed Mercantile Eco Inn "Library" - Bathroom Art at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage
When the Mercantile was just beginning its construction phase (back in the digging in the mud phase) I attended an auction at a school in Ewing, Missouri, which was being closed down. In addition to the card catalog (now used to display merchandise, see below) and the swings from the playground (still to be installed) I found the door to the school library. Laying on its side and leaning against an exterior wall, the door was like a forgotten step-child. I paid $1.00 and walked away with my prize.
Prize? You bet. My late father-in-law, Clyde Kessner was a character of the first order. Along with a plethora of maxims, adages and bromides, Clyde announced his departure to the bathroom with a rustle of a newspaper and the comment "well, I'm heading to the library." Thus, the Clyde Kessner Memorial Bathroom came into being.
Clyde's granddaughter (Kurt's niece) Danae Howell has been working here at the Milkweed Mercantile all summer. When I told her about wanting to add a wall of books to the downstairs bathroom/library she got a huge smile on her face and went to work.
Danae added a few of our favorite eco books (Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk, A Reasonable Life by Ferenc Mate, The Humanure Handbook by Joe Jenkins) and made up a few (Baloo's Guide to Happiness, Queen Alline's Guide to Life, and Exploitation or Education: the Life of a Wexer). She also added Work Exchanger Robby's (aka Dr. Bob) doctoral thesis, and a list of the 2011 Work Exchangers.
PS Here is the card catalog, put to use as our "apothecary."
Prize? You bet. My late father-in-law, Clyde Kessner was a character of the first order. Along with a plethora of maxims, adages and bromides, Clyde announced his departure to the bathroom with a rustle of a newspaper and the comment "well, I'm heading to the library." Thus, the Clyde Kessner Memorial Bathroom came into being.
 |
| Danae and Kristen snap the chalk lines. |
 |
| The finished "library." |
Danae added a few of our favorite eco books (Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk, A Reasonable Life by Ferenc Mate, The Humanure Handbook by Joe Jenkins) and made up a few (Baloo's Guide to Happiness, Queen Alline's Guide to Life, and Exploitation or Education: the Life of a Wexer). She also added Work Exchanger Robby's (aka Dr. Bob) doctoral thesis, and a list of the 2011 Work Exchangers.
 |
| Homage to Baloo |
 |
| Dr. Bob's Thesis |
 | ||||
| Our 2011 Work Exchangers |
Come visit our library soon!
PS Here is the card catalog, put to use as our "apothecary."
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage Featured in a COOL New Documentary - Help with a Pledge on Kickstarter!
This summer, during the hottest, brain-meltingest days of July, three filmmakers came to visit. We had no idea what to expect - we get approached all the time by folks who want to film us. Occasionally we say "yes." This time we definately made the right call.
Tamer, Armand and Tom are not only supremely talented but also extremely respectful and thoughtful human beings. They do a lot more listening than they do talking, and while they were here they spent a lot of time getting to know us before ever turning on a camera.
When we saw the trailer they put together we were stunned (in a really good way). These guys get it. They are presenting the three communities of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, Red Earth Farms and Sandhill Farm in a clear, thought-provoking, positive way. The film itself is beautiful - the transitions are striking (I love the blueberries in a food processor turning into a cement mixer...) and so many Rabbits and Sandhillers and Red Earth Farms folks are represented.
The clip is below.
As one listens to the first 30 seconds, which was filmed at Sandhill Farm, one is immediately transported to Rutledge, Missouri in the middle of the summer, early in the morning - can you hear the birds and the train in the distance? This is what our life is like here. At 1:12 we see Thomas, working on his hand tools; at 1:23 we see Stan of Sandhill Farm, chopping cabbage with his earthy farmer's hands; at 1:35 we see Alyson, a former Rabbit and current DR Board member, with her daughter Cole; I can be see chatting behind the bar of the Milkweed Mercantile at 1:42; Laird, of Sandhill Farm who is one of the founders of the Fellowship for Intentional Community and a huge supporter of DR and the Mercantile is at 1:46; Ziggy, who is co-creator of Gob Cobitron and author of the A Year of Mud blog is seen tamping the floor in his house at 1:49. At 3:00 you can see Kurt with Rabbit Tom Cowen and our work exchangers Robby and Jordan working on our wind turbine....
Help The Last Volunteer get this film made! As of today it is 54% funded. In eight short days the party is over. Please help!
How's this for an incentive: Contribute $1,000 and you get a night's stay (and dinner!) at the world-famous Milkweed Mercantile. It's a bargain at twice the price!
I realize that most people who read this blog are interested in simple, sustainable living, and therefore may not have a lot of disposable income. I know I certainly do not (although with our latest accounting Kurt thinks we may be making $4.75 a day now!). But this project is so worthwhile - I would love to see the story of Dancing Rabbit and other commuities told by someone who clearly understands and has a gift for story-telling. Even $5 or $10 will help.
Thanks for considering!
Love,
Alline
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The Kindness of Strangers - Secret Friends Everywhere!
Gifts come from the most astounding, unexpected places, and miracles are everywhere. This morning I opened my email and found this:
"Hello Aline, Kurt and everyone!
By bizarre and convoluted means (arent they always!) I found myself on your site.
I have a small organic garden and was reading up about composting seaweed and came across a post by Aline on the Ventnor Permaculture site.
There was a link to The Milkweed Mercantile and Ive spent a lovely hour looking through your site and various blogs and Im staggered at what you all have accomplished.
I looked backward through Aline's photostream on Flickr and travelled back in time through the building of the Mercantile. First I saw the cheery guests and beautiful rooms and eventually made it through to digging out the basement with your enormous digger!
Initially when I spied beautiful floors, fireplace and the lime plastered walls I assumed you had converted a barn at *considerable* expense. However as I travelled further back through your photos, I discovered to my intense joy you had fulfilled your very own self built 'Grand Design' from scratch!
Oh well done everybody! What a journey! It looks FABULOUS and so warm and inviting. But my goodness what a lot of work- I mean crazy amounts! Kurt and Aline, I have so much respect for your vision and energy. To envision the possibility of 'what could be' from 'what was' is rare gift!
And you had so much help from your community! So many smiles and waves to camera throughout the process Aline and Kurt are truly blessed with friends and neighbours who have gone above and beyond to help create the amazing guesthouse and cafe.
I never knew of you until an hour ago, and probably couldn't find Rutledge, MO with an hour, two hands and a paper map! My life is very different, I have a a busy urban life in London, but Im genuinely proud of your achievements:-
The wonderful cafe kitchen, the PV panels, wind turbines, the strawbale construction, reclaimed doors and floors, Tamar's beautiful mosaic swirls... all created with such good grace and a passion for quality work. Its absolutely shines through in everything you've done.
Congratulations one and all!
Have a good day!"
Wow. I'm considering printing this out and carrying it around in my pocket, as a touchstone of sorts, on those days when all I can see is what hasn't yet been done, when I forget what we've actually accomplished.
This is also a very good reminder of the power of connection, and how a kind word can make a world of difference.
I really am speechless. I'm sitting here at my computer with a big smile on my face. Words are pretty much failing me, so I'll just finish by saying Thank you Anne-Marie. You made my day!
"Hello Aline, Kurt and everyone!
By bizarre and convoluted means (arent they always!) I found myself on your site.
I have a small organic garden and was reading up about composting seaweed and came across a post by Aline on the Ventnor Permaculture site.
There was a link to The Milkweed Mercantile and Ive spent a lovely hour looking through your site and various blogs and Im staggered at what you all have accomplished.
I looked backward through Aline's photostream on Flickr and travelled back in time through the building of the Mercantile. First I saw the cheery guests and beautiful rooms and eventually made it through to digging out the basement with your enormous digger!
Initially when I spied beautiful floors, fireplace and the lime plastered walls I assumed you had converted a barn at *considerable* expense. However as I travelled further back through your photos, I discovered to my intense joy you had fulfilled your very own self built 'Grand Design' from scratch!
Oh well done everybody! What a journey! It looks FABULOUS and so warm and inviting. But my goodness what a lot of work- I mean crazy amounts! Kurt and Aline, I have so much respect for your vision and energy. To envision the possibility of 'what could be' from 'what was' is rare gift!
And you had so much help from your community! So many smiles and waves to camera throughout the process Aline and Kurt are truly blessed with friends and neighbours who have gone above and beyond to help create the amazing guesthouse and cafe.
I never knew of you until an hour ago, and probably couldn't find Rutledge, MO with an hour, two hands and a paper map! My life is very different, I have a a busy urban life in London, but Im genuinely proud of your achievements:-
The wonderful cafe kitchen, the PV panels, wind turbines, the strawbale construction, reclaimed doors and floors, Tamar's beautiful mosaic swirls... all created with such good grace and a passion for quality work. Its absolutely shines through in everything you've done.
Congratulations one and all!
Have a good day!"
Wow. I'm considering printing this out and carrying it around in my pocket, as a touchstone of sorts, on those days when all I can see is what hasn't yet been done, when I forget what we've actually accomplished.
This is also a very good reminder of the power of connection, and how a kind word can make a world of difference.
I really am speechless. I'm sitting here at my computer with a big smile on my face. Words are pretty much failing me, so I'll just finish by saying Thank you Anne-Marie. You made my day!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage Open House - Saturday, September 24th
Annual Open House
Saturday, September 24, 2011
from 1:00- 4:00 p.m.
and we really want you to be here!!!
Come enjoy free tours, a peek inside several of the private homes, an insider's guide to life off the grid, info on renewable energy, building with alternative and sustainable materials, a village fair, live music, and much much more! We hope to see you there!
Our children are slow but cute. Please don't run over them.
If you get lost we'll be in the Milkweed Mercantile most of the day and can help talk you in. Our phone number is 660-883-5522. Please note that AT&T does NOT have cell phone reception in this area (maybe they're not so smart after all...)
Wear comfortable shoes, bring a jacket and maybe an umbrella, and your friends!
The Rabbits demonstrate car-sharing.
A google map is available here: http://tinyurl.com/mmdirections
Our GPS Coordinates are:
40 degrees 19.953' N
92 degrees 5.766' W
40 degrees 19.953' N
92 degrees 5.766' W
Driving directions from just about everywhere:
From the NORTH (Minneapolis, Des Moines):
- Follow 35 South from Minneapolis.
- In Des Moines, take the exit onto I-80 E toward Davenport 3.4 mi
- Take exit 141 to merge onto US-65 S toward Altoona/Des Moines 4.5 mi
- Take exit 79 for IA-163/E University Ave toward Pleasant Hill 0.4 mi
- Turn left at IA-163 E/E University Ave
- Continue to follow IA-163 E
- Continue onto US-63 S
- After going through the town of Bloomfield, turn left on Iowa Route 2.
- Head east to Iowa Route 15 and head south (a right turn onto 15). NOTE: If you are driving by during business hours, Milton Creamery has AMAZING cheese. They are on Route 2 on the right just before you turn onto Highway 15. Absolutely worth the stop. We highly recommend Prairie Breeze and Prairie Rose.
- As you cross the state line it will turn to Missouri Route 15.
- Continue on Route 15 all the way through Memphis.
- Several miles south of town at the bottom of the hill, take a left turn to head east on 136.
- Continue on 136 for a couple of miles. After the Pizza Hut and J’s Grocery store, turn right at Ridge Road/Highway MM.
- Ridge Road//Highway MM.will take you along the ridge, down into the river bottom, over the creek and back up the other side.
- At the T intersection, turn LEFT on Highway M.
- M will twist and turn, and eventually come to another T intersection. M goes left, W goes right. Turn LEFT, continuing on Highway M.
- When you see the sign where you take a right turn to stay on M and go into Rutledge, go straight instead, continuing on Route A. Take your first left turn in about 100 yards. THERE IS NO ROAD SIGN HERE BUT TURN LEFT ANYWAY. If you reach the railroad bridge (or the town of Gorin) you have gone too far.
- Go one mile and take a SHARP left turn on the first gravel road, once labeled "Woehrle" but sadly no longer labeled THERE IS NO ROAD SIGN HERE BUT TURN LEFT ANYWAY (we're working on putting up our own signs, but we haven't gotten to it quite yet!).
- Ignore the gravel road that goes off to the right and continue on 0.8 miles and you'll see the Dancing Rabbit sign on the right.
- Turn in at the next entrance, where visitor parking is located on your left.
From the EAST and SOUTH (Quincy, St. Louis):
- From US 61 near Quincy IL, head west on Missouri 6.
- Go 32 miles to Knox City and take a right on V (there is a route V after just a few miles on Hwy 6 - DONT TAKE IT, it is the WRONG V. ).
- When you come to a tee intersection, take a left on K.
- Go a few miles and take a right (north) on M--you'll see a sign that says "Rutledge 5 miles."
- Cross the line into Scotland County and go through Rutledge on M.
- Just north of the town, M comes to a tee intersection--go right (east) on A.
- Take your first left turn in about 100 yards. This road does not have a sign. If you cross the railroad overpass/bridge you have gone too far.
- Go one mile and take a sharp left turn on the first gravel road, once labeled "Woehrle" but sadly no longer labeled (we're working on putting up our own signs, but we haven't gotten to it quite yet!).
- Ignore the gravel road that goes off to the right and continue on 0.8 miles. You'll see the Dancing Rabbit sign on the right.
- Pull into the second driveway and park in the lot on your left
- The Mercantile is the big white building with the porch.
For an internet map follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/4xlfa7
From the SOUTH and WEST (Kirksville, Columbia, Kansas City):
- Take US 63 north to Kirksville, where it will turn into North Baltimore Street.
- Take a right on Missouri 11 (the Hyvee store is a good landmark).
- After 20 or so miles, you'll come to a stop sign--go straight, crossing over Missouri 15. At this point, 11 will turn into highway K.
- Go through Baring on K, and after a 6.5 miles on K, take a left (now heading north) onto M. You'll see a sign saying "Rutledge 5 miles"
- Follow M all the way through the town of Rutledge until in stops at a tee intersection. Just north of the town, M comes to a tee intersection--go right (east) on A.
- Take your first left turn in about 100 yards. This road does not have a sign. If you cross the railroad overpass/bridge or reach the town of Gorin, you have gone too far.
- Go one mile and take a sharp left turn on the first gravel road, once labeled "Woehrle" but sadly no longer labeled (we're working on putting up our own signs, but we haven't gotten to it quite yet!).
- Ignore the gravel road that goes off to the right and continue on 0.8 miles and you'll see our sign on the right.
- Pull into the second driveway and park in the lot on your left
- The Mercantile is the big white building with the porch.
For an internet map follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/6yf7as
From Chicago
- 80 West towards Iowa (approximately 116 miles)
- MergeI-74 E/IL-110 W/CHICAGO-KANSAS CITY EXPYPEORIA
- MergeUS-34 W/IL-110 W/CHICAGO-KANSAS CITY EXPYEXIT46AMONMOUTH
- MergeUS-34 WBURLINGTON (Crossing into IOWA)
- TakeUS-61/ROOSEVELT AVEEXIT261FT MADISON
- TurnRIGHTUS-61/AVENUE L/IA-2US-61/IA-2
- TurnLEFTUS-218 S/IA-27 S
- MergeAVENUE OF THE SAINTS (Crossing into MISSOURI)
- TakeUS-136WAYLAND/KAHOKATurnRIGHTUS-136
- After going 26 miles, turnLEFTMO-A
- When you have covered approximately 8-7 miles you will cross a small overpass bridge that goes over the railroad tracks. Immediately after this is a paved road on your right. This is Old Highway Y. There is not a road sign here. Turn right. (If you get to MO-M you’ve gone about .2 miles too far).
- Go one mile and take a sharp left turn on the first gravel road, once labeled "Woehrle" but sadly no longer labeled (we're working on putting up our own signs, but we haven't gotten to it quite yet!).
- Ignore the gravel road that goes off to the right and continue on 0.8 miles and you'll see our sign on the right.
- Pull into the second driveway and park in the lot on your left
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