Monday, March 30, 2020

Being in Community during Covid 19



Wow - life sure has changed in just a few weeks.  Like everyone in the world, we are learning to cope with the social distancing that is required of us, while not letting that turn into social isolation.  In our community, there is a strong value about caring for one another, and we have found a lot of ways to support one another and still have some fun together.  Here are examples of a few of things we are doing together.....


We are still having workdays..... just working 6 feet apart!  

Chuck is taking a break at a workday.... alone but not undisturbed!

Karolyn, Vonda and Joyce... weeding together at 6'

Mary and Meg demonstrating the new selfie....friends at 6'

One of the greatest assets we have is our trail system  We have over 100 acres of hiking trails.  It's easy to hike at a distance from others.  Since these woods are accessed only by our two sister communities (Elderberry and Potluck Farm), it's also easy to avoid close contact with others.  

Mary and Meg took photos on a recent hike - we have beautiful streams and lots of different ways to cross them!

Springtime in our woods is amazing.  The wildflowers are beautiful right now.... we will feature some in our next blog!


The end of Elderberry Lane is a good spot for watching the sunset.  


Another great activity during this time.... kayaking.  We have several nearby rivers and lakes, and several kayaks in the community.   If we drive in separate cars to the more isolated access points, we can enjoy nature without seeing a single person.  On this trip we DID see a lone fisherman on the bank, who caught 2 fish as we watched.  Meg found the first wild azaleas of the season - so beautiful!


Mary, Meg and Riley Kayaking the Flat River
Joyce on the Flat River

Kayaking the Eno River.... if no one else is available, there is always Riley to go along for the ride!


Below - Joyce kayaking on Lake Michie



Karolyn arranged a Community Sing.  The couples sat next to one another but all others were six feet away, and many listened from the benches or picnic tables in the central area, or from their porch.  We have community songbooks with about 400 songs, so people shouted out what they wanted to sing and Mary and Ross provided some back-up on guitar and harmonica.  Barb, on the left, is holding up a bag of hand sanitizer samples that Chuck provided, and those were tossed around the circle!

Cathy and Mary met up at Bella Vista for a morning coffee 6' apart.  Bella Vista is a spot on property owned jointly by Elderberry and Potluck Farm.  It's a lovely place where we sometimes meet to watch sunsets or moon rises or just to have morning coffee.  It's about a 10-15 min hike through our wooded trails from Elderberry.

Enjoying our morning coffee this week at Bella Vista - the green just barely starting come into the trees