Memphis Democrat Column from January 16, 2005

We got our year off to a very relaxed and pleasant start. As I mentioned in my last column, our St. Louis friend Matthew was with us for the change of the year. Our friend Geoph arrived on December 28 from Springfield, which also happened to be his birthday. He and Matthew went with us that evening to a very cozy dinner at Chad and Alyson's trailer across the road from Dancing Rabbit. The few Rabbits who were at home joined us and it was a lovely gathering.

Later that night, former member Lotus and her daughter Emma arrived from Tennesee after a long day's drive. Geoph, Lotus and Emma were with us for a few days.Renay was very happy to have Emma here again since they are best friends.

Geoph and Lotus took a day while they were here to visit other friends in Columbia and see Ann, who was staying at Ceilee's. While they were down there they kidnapped our old friend Howard and brought him back with them for a surprise visit. Michael and I were delighted to see him. The three of us lived together at East Wind Community and Howard was our best man when we got married. He has been in Maryland for the past couple of years, so we had a lot of news to catch up on.

We had a quiet New Year's celebration with our friends, doing puzzles and enjoying each other's company. In the days following the holiday, the pace picked up a bit. Geoph went back down to southern Missouri to spend more time with his family and dropped off Howard in Columbia. Lotus and Emma headed home to Tennesse and Matthew went with them as far as St. Louis.

Stan had made a short trip to Columbia to visit with Ann, Ceilee and Jo, but was home for the New Year's holiday.

Laird returned on January 4 from his bridge tournament in Kansas City and his own visit with his children and Ann in Columbia. He took Jo to St. Louis on the 3rd so she could return to school and then returned to Columbia to help Ceilee with some remodeling work on the house he recently purchased. He made another trip down there last Thursday and Friday to lend Ceilee a hand again.

Susie had extended her stay in Chicago to the 5th so she could attend her cousin's wedding shower. She was on her way back when she ran into some very icy highways. Fortunately, she was able to drive as far as her grandmother's house in Galesburg and called us from there. She eased her way back to Sandhill the next day. We were all very glad to see her.

Renay and her dad are in Minnesota this weekend to attend a benefit auction for French's sister, who has had health problems. French comes from a large family, so the visit also gives Renay a chance to see some of her numerous cousins on that side.

The beginning of the new year also marks the start of our intern selection process for the coming season. Gigi, Susie and I have already done a couple of phone interviews and also talked to another prospect. We have offered an internship to the first woman we interviewed last week and we are waiting to hear if she is going to accept our offer. There is another applicant scheduled for an interview next weekend. We are really looking forward to having a new group of interns with us this spring and summer.

Michael, Gigi and I are also deep into the seed catalogues. This is one of my favorite January activities. We expect to have our seed orders ready to go by the end of this week. Michael is also gazing fondly at colorful pictures of chickens and turkeys in the poultry catalogs and planning which varieties he wants to add to our flocks. These activities are a good antidote for some of the gloomy winter days we have had recently.

The most exciting news of the past few weeks is that we located and purchased a steam boiler for our sorghum operation. Stan and Kris from East Wind Community went to Lubbock,Texas last Wednesday to pick it up and they are now back at East Wind. The boiler will need some work before we can install and use it, but East Wind has recently built a new machine shop and it will be easier for Kris to tackle the job there. The boiler is wood-fired and is of a type used to power saw mills in the old days.

We also had word from Stan this evening that there was apparently a tornado two days ago at East Wind, which is located between Gainesville and West Plains in Ozark County. The storm on Friday uprooted some very large trees, tore the roof off their dairy barn and tossed the community's canoes around the landscape. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Sandhill Farm and East Wind have close ties, so it was good to hear that.