Hi everyone. We are back from our vacation, all caught up on our sleep and reading. The first week Michael and I were down in the Ozarks it rained twelve inches, so I guess we didn't have much choice about what to do.

The weather did finally clear and we had a nice time. Had lots of fun catching with up folks and attended a big musical gathering called "The Dead Bug Party" that old friends of ours hold every year. We also saw my son who lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas a couple of times and spent last weekend with my daughter and her family in Pomona. Our two year old granddaughter Chloe can talk non-stop now and is a real joy.

The people at home have had a full three weeks, too. Just because the growing season is over doesn't mean that the work stops. A big job during the off season is cutting wood for our heating needs and next year's sorghum cooks. We also have to make sure that winterizing the buildings gets attended to and that the garden is cleaned up and cover cropped. Since we are now doing extensive drip irrigation all of that equipment has to be disassembled and put away.

It hasn't been all toil, however. Our three interns Susie, Ingrid and Megen have kept things pretty lively.

They have formed a close harmony singing trio and spend many evenings singing in the living room of the White House. There have also been the weekly pot-lucks with Dancing Rabbit and other fun social times. Gigi, Stan and Stephanie from DR attended a Lyceum performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Kirksville.

Other Sandhill people have been doing some travelling, too. Laird left just before Michael and I did for a long trip east. He attended FIC meetings and a conference in Florida, visited a friend in Georgia, went to the annual National Association of Student Cooperatives Institute in Ann Arbor, headed to Virginia to teach a workshop and see Ann and then ended up in New Hampshire for a parents' event at Jo's school. We expect him and Jo home either late tonight(Sunday) or early tomorrow.

Stan and Ingrid were at the Small Farm Conference in Columbia the first weekend in November and then Stan headed down to southern Missouri to attend the assembly of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities at East Wind from the 10th to the 17th. This past Friday and Saturday he has been doing farm inspections in Iowa and will do some more this week.

Megen went to visit friends in St. Louis for a few days and came back with another Megan who visited with us last week.

We have also been saying some goodbyes the past couple of weeks. Long-term visitor Matthew, who has been with us since the end of August left on November 11 for New Mexico. He is now a visitor at Pinon Ecovillage Community outside of Santa Fe. We appreciated his good energy leading our field crews during sorghum harvest and his expertise with our cranky computers.

We also said goodbye to our member Bekka who is off to new adventures in the Pacific Northwest. After a farewell dinner in Kirksville, she drove to Chicago on the 5th with Rabbits Jeffrey and Tamar to catch the train west. She is now living in Port Townsend, Washington and sends us regular email updates about her life these days. Bekka was a member of Sandhill for six years and her organizational skills and community support will be missed.