It seemed that winter was slow to make its appearance this year, but we have certainly gotten our share of it lately. The Sandhill crew has been taking advantage of the situation and several of us have been doing some cross-country skiing. Cory is really getting good at it and it has been fun to watch her going out with the adults. We have also been sledding and hiking around in the snow.

We have received the first of the new labels for our product line. We will use the same design for all of the things that we make. The graphic that appears at the top of my column is part of that design. The main thing that will be different for each product will be the color combination used on the label of each one. Jacob, a former member of Dancing Rabbit, was the graphic designer and worked with several of our members on this project. It was a long process and it was exciting to finally have the labels arrive from the printer.

Stan went to Clarksville, Tennessee for the annual meeting of the National Association of Sweet Sorghum Producers on February 27. Gigi and Cory went along and he dropped them off at a community called The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. Our friends Geoph, Lotus and Emma are living there. Gigi and Cory stayed at Lotus' house and Cory got to go to the community's school with Emma. After his meeting was through, Stan joined Gigi and Cory at The Farm for couple of days. They returned home on March 4, just in time for the big snow storm.

Jon's mother Cheri flew from Portland, Oregon to St. Louis on February 26 and Jon drove down to pick her up. She had a good visit with Jon, Angelina and Zoe. It had been a few months since Cheri had seen Zoe and she really enjoyed having the chance to catch up on all the changes her granddaughter has been going through. She flew back to Portland on March 2.

Sol's twenty seventh birthday was on February 27th. We had our weekly dinner with the Dancing Rabbit folks that evening and it was followed by a dance party. Sol made her own cake and it was really

yummy. With the string of community birthdays going on now, I see a diet in my future.

Sue left on March 6 for a trip east. She went to Michigan and Ohio for visits with members of her family before going onto Virginia and Washington, DC. She is doing a labor exchange at Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia. She is also hoping to see some of the sights in Washington while she is there.

We are hosting the first of our visitors for this year. John teaches at Mount Saint Clare College in Clinton, Iowa and arrived last Saturday for a week's stay. He visited Dancing Rabbit last August .

Despite the snow and ice outside, we have lots of little seedlings staying snug and warm on tables in the upstairs living room of Karma, our largest residence. Gigi, Michael and Bekka have been busy seeding flats of early brassicas, onions and leeks for the garden and transplants to go into our cold frames for spring salads.

Michael and I drove to Verna Martin's greenhouse near Baring Monday morning to buy some more seed and it was snug and warm in there, too. She had lots of nice vegetable and flower starts. Snow was falling outside the door, but it was spring in there.