Memphis Democrat Column from June 05, 2005

My, that was certainly some bumpy weather we had Saturday night! It felt like trying to go to sleep in the middle of a bowling tournament, but I finally managed to drop off. Michael was worrying about our new batch of chicks and turkey poults and hoping the the power would stay on so the lights in their pen wouldn't go out in the middle of all the commotion. Everything worked out and the new babies were warm and lively when he checked on them early in the morning.

Laird went to Keokuk Saturday to play bridge and had a very difficult drive home by way of Edina, where he dropped one of the other players off. He said it was hard to see the highway at some points

due to the heavy downpours.

However, the good side of the rain is that it provided needed moisture for our garden and field crops. Things had been a bit on the dry side recently. I hope our neighbors were able to get all their hay in before the deluge.

We have had a pretty lively time here at the farm the past three weeks. We had visits from two of our former interns during that time. One of our 2003 interns, Josie, and her brother Nick were here from May 17 to May 20. Nick visited us last year also. Josie had been working for a wilderness program for youth in Idaho since leaving Sandhill and will be going to California later this summer to be an intern at the Solar Living Center in Hopland. While Josie and Nick were here, they put on one of their spectacular fire dancing shows at Dancing Rabbit.

Our intern from last year, Kristen, and her friend Tim drove from Colorado to visit us on the 25th and are still here. Tim will heading to Tennessee early this coming week and Kristen will be staying on for another week before going back to Colorado.

As I have mentioned before, one of the great benefits of our intern program is the lasting friendships we form. It has been great to have both Josie and Kristen with us again, and we are glad they brought Nick and Tim along, too. They have all added a lot of energy to our scene here.

We have also had some other visitors the past three weeks. Stephen biked up from St. Louis to visit us on May 21 and stayed until the following Wednesday. He is a journalist and works for the community radio station in Madison, Wisconsin. He is doing a piece on sustainability and spent time talking with us about our lifestyle and participating in our work.

Bud arrived on the 23rd from Connecticut and was here until May 31. He recently retired and is exploring community living as a possible option for the future. He was a big help in the garden, particularly during the push to get the tomato transplants set out, and also pitched in on some of our other projects.

Former members Cedar, Jess and Skyler came for a visit on May 22 and brought along a group from Columbia for a tour of Sandhill. The group included Claire from Terra Nova Community in Columbia. Claire and her husband Evan are friends from our days together at East Wind Community and Evan is a former member of Sandhill.

Cedar, Jess and Skyler also came to say goodbye before moving to North Carolina. Jess will be starting school in Ashville this fall and they are going to be interns at an organic farm in Celo this summer.

Our new intern Joanne arrived from New Hampshire on the 26th and as a bonus she brought her friend Steph with her for a five day visit. Joanne is a student at the University of New Hampshire and will be with us until mid-August. Chifumi is back from Japan, so we now have four interns at the farm.

Laird returned home on May 31 after a three week trip east. After attending the meetings in Ithaca,

he did some work with a group and then went to Jo's high school graduation in New Hampshire. She has been attending the Meeting School in Rindge. Laird said the ceremony was very nice. While he was there, he conducted a fund-raising auction for the school.

Stan left last Wednesday to do organic farm inspections in western Kansas. This trip will be for one week. He usually does two or three longer inspection trips a year, as well as a number of more local ones.

Michael and I also hit the road last weekend to do the River Festival in Hannibal. Except for a brief rain shower Sunday morning, the weather was great. Lots of people came out and it was the most successful weekend we've had in the four years that we have been doing this fair. Michael and I also had a chance to visit with several of our friends during the two days of the fair, including Jim and Setsuko Nishida-Adams from Memphis. It's always fun to see everyone and catch up on the news.