Things to Do
Things to Do, both the newsletter and the activities, are…limited…lately. Restaurants and bars in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden now serve take out/drive-through only. Just ten minutes away, Washington residents are under a 14 day stay-in order. Idaho joined them on March 25th with a 21-day order. Social distancing and self-isolation are the topics of most social media posts. While many of them are entertaining, I can’t help but wonder, what is everyone doing?
Things to Do – At Home
A quick glance at any website shows cancellations and postponements in all the event categories. Some small businesses are turning to virtual events. Some gyms are sending workouts to do at home, while others are using technology to work out together virtually. YouTube has a Couch to Confident 14-Day Yoga Challenge (also streaming on Amazon Prime) for those trying to use this time for getting fit and flexible.
Facebook remains a popular way to spend time. In fact, a new group called Quarantine Karaoke grew to over 250,000 members in less than a week, garnering national attention in the news. So we know a lot of people are singing into their hairbrushes, or watching others do the same. Binge watching and gaming, too, are popular choices for those who are not working or home schooling during their isolation.
Here in North Idaho, the weather is only kind of cooperating with the folks who are trying to spend more time outside. We had a few beautiful days, but woke up to white ground on Wednesday morning and temperatures have dipped just a bit since then. Spring cleaning, however, whether it’s cars or homes, is a popular option. I’ve also seen the pickleball court stay busy, lots of kids and dogs walking the streets, and a few people mowing lawns and pulling weeds.
What we are Doing
What has all this meant for the Bennett Realty Group? Well, real estate has been deemed an essential financial service in the state of Idaho, even though it was not in other states. And while folks are still wanting to buy and sell real estate, we’ve had to change the way we do things just a little bit. We’ve been doing video walk-throughs of our new listings rather than holding a traditional open house. We have been working from home as much as we can, and showings and closings have been interesting, between the 6′ social distancing rule and more frequent/thorough sanitizing procedures. We are fortunate to still be able to work. We are more fortunate that we can already do quite a bit of it through technological means.
Finding a bright side to all of this hasn’t been hard. We’ve said it before and it’s still true: we live in an awesome community. The people of North Idaho have pulled together beautifully to help it’s more vulnerable members. We’ve seen residents make and deliver sack lunches for low-income students. People still order their food curb-side to support local restaurants. Folks are doing grocery drop offs for more vulnerable residents. Some are even still paying for their salon appointments that had to be cancelled. All in an effort to keep each other going through this difficult time. It is these kinds of things that make us love where we live!
