The Big Storm: So Glad to Live in Community!
Just after Christmas, Nevada County—home of Nevada City Cohousing and Wolf Creek Lodge in the Sierra Foothills—had a huge wet snowstorm that knocked out power for most of the county. At first, it was exciting and we focused on shoveling pathways. By the second day a little less so. But so thankful to live in community because my neighbors were jumping into action. In my 34-home community, we found we had three generators, and a team organized to circulate the generators between buildings to get everyone a bit of heat and a quick shower. (our 3 – 6 unit buildings have shared heating/hot water systems that use gas but need electricity to pump the water, and solar hooked into the grid, but no big (expensive) batteries). People shared batteries and solar chargers to keep people’s phones charged, and offered to pick up groceries for those who didn’t want to drive on icy roads. The constant chatter on our email group kept us up to date with information (cell phones worked). Nevertheless, we certainly celebrated when the lights came back on at the end of day three.
It’s hard for me to imagine going thorough crisis of any sort without a community. As my daughter said, “Imagine if you had to shovel a whole driveway by yourself?” Many good neighbors make for light work and lots of resources. Clearly, the weather is telling us we need to build more resilient communities that can get us thorough whatever is coming at us next.
CoHousing Solutions is ready to help you build yours!
Happy New Year!
