Lessons From Quarantine - Community

By Whitney Rose

One of the perks of our little home in North Dallas is that we are located next to the neighborhood park. Year round, the kids and I will pop out to the park to bombard whatever family is enjoying the playground, thus creating instant community and entertainment for 30 minutes at a time. It's lovely and brilliant. ⁣
⁣
However, come mid-March, the park was closed and we found ourselves, along with the rest of the world, in a terrible disconnect. @carterrose work as a photographer was completely cancelled, and my stay-at-home-mom status was at an all-time-high. We were spending as much time in the backyard as we could but really reaching our limits. ⁣
⁣
Therefore it didn't come as a surprise to me, that the following week, on a dreadfully rainy day in May, I heard my husband outside with a saw, literally sawing our fence in half. HE WAS TURNING AN 8FT PRIVACY FENCE INTO A 4FT GARDEN FENCE. Once he'd gone the entire length of the fence that faces the park, he cheerfully bounded inside, having succeeded in creating a new way for us to safely connect. ⁣
⁣
Now we sit in the backyard and are able to catch each dog walker and passerby with a quick hello or a long conversation. What began as the wild idea of a cooped-up family has given us an openness that is wildly freeing and connecting. Now... you may catch me in my pajamas through the newly exposed sliding glass door, or see the total mayhem that is our lawn after a water-ballon fight, but this transparency is a good part of the gig. We're keeping it real. ⁣
⁣
It is my hope that this radical pursuit of connection continues beyond the times of Covid-19, and that we may learn to be continually diligent in community with our neighbors.”