We received the Fall/Winter schedule for the Community Center at McRae Park today. They’ve put together a nice program of activities for parents and kids. In the winter, most of us in the neighborhood spend a few evenings there to let the kids play and the parents to get together. It allows us all to shut down our houses for a few hours in the evening and save some energy. Last year, they put in an exercise room with cardio machines that are connected to our neighborhood battery storage. We can stay fit and add a little power to our grid. There was a little competition going on who has generated the most kWh. We no longer go by distance but by power generated.
On weekends we often take the light rail to the Mall of America. It’s become an indoor town square for the community, especially in the winter or during the hot days of the summer. We can take long walks or sit and people watch and they have a lot of activities and events for the community.
Hopefully there won’t be so many quarantines this winter. Our home energy use was pretty high last winter because we couldn’t get out very much due to the epidemic alerts. Don’t get me wrong, the Internet’s great for keeping in touch with people all around the world but I like seeing people face to face too. I guess maybe I’m not so much the introvert that I claim to be. 
