Memphis Democrat Column from April 09, 2006

Folks here at Sandhill have had their travelling shoes on the past few weeks. Otto left on March 26 after spending three months with us. He took Amtrak to New York. He has accepted a seasonal staff position at Omega Institute, a conference center in Rhinebeck. If everything works out, he hopes to be with us again in late October.

Laird left for Albuquerque on March 28 to spend some time with his fiancee. He and Ma'ikwe then met Tony from Dancing Rabbit in Chicago on April 5 and the three of them drove to Madison, Wisconsin for the spring organizational meetings of the Fellowship for Intentional Community. The meetings will end on Monday and we expect Laird home Tuesday evening.

Gigi and Renay paid another visit to Halle and her family in Viroqua, Wisconsin from March 30 to April 6. Renay attended the Waldorf School in Viroqua with Halle's son Jack during that week and really enjoyed the experience. Gigi had a chance to spend some time exploring the area and relax a bit.

Stan was in the Columbia area March 28 and 29 to make deliveries to customers there and attend an alternative energy conference. He spent the night with our friends at Terra Nova Community.

Michael and I were both under the weather with a respiratory bug during most of this time, so we were quite happy to stay put. I'm happy to report that we are both feeling almost human again.

Our friends Julie and Liz from Kirksville joined us last Tuesday night at our regular community potluck. It was good to see both of them again and catch up on all their news. Julie travelled to Oregon with our 2004 intern Susie in January and Liz was part of an student exchange program in Morocco last fall and winter.

Renay's uncle, Ernie, came by for a visit Friday morning. He is down from Minnesota visiting his brother French for a few days. He has been at Sandhill before and it is always nice to see him. Ernie is a beekeeper and has raised pheasants in the past

We welcomed our first intern of the season, Angie, this past Wednesday. She has traveled from Texas to be with us. Angie is a graduate of Florida State University in Tallahassee and spent part of last year teaching and volunteering in Thailand and India.

Angie and Jessie were busy during the latter part of the week with planting out the white pines that we ordered from the Conservation Department nursery. Some were set out in our woodland area and the start of a small grove was put in behind Dharma, one of our residences.

We hosted the Environmental Awareness Class from Truman State University on Saturday morning. I gave them a tour of the community and then they participated in various work projects. They had lots of energy and we appreciated their help. We enjoyed some social time with them over lunch. Afterwards, the class went to Dancing Rabbit for the public tour and to Zimmerman's.

The pace is picking up and today is no exception. Michael, Angie and I bottled a batch of mustard this morning. This is a popular product at fairs and we need to have some on hand for the ones coming up soon.

Folks were out at various times during the day to get the North Garden ready for planting this week. We will be putting in our first patch of potatoes in tomorrow. Spring greens and beets won't be too far behind. Jessie also spent part of the day (with help from Aradia) getting soybeans ready for a tempeh cook Monday.

Gigi and I did a phone interview with another intern applicant this afternoon. Michael is in the kitchen at the moment cooking a tasty meal and we are expecting our friend Dan for supper and an overnight stay. Stan has been out working with the bees most of the day. It looks like both us and the bees are pretty busy this time of year.