Unit 7 Update During a Pandemic
Linda Shannon-Hills
One of the largest units in SaddleBrooke Ranch is Unit 7 with 128 lots. Starting with 10 years to a couple of months.
Moving quickly into the eighth month of the pandemic and social distancing, many have stayed busy with golf, walking, biking, tennis, pickleball, and various clubs at the arts center. Many residents have found new and interesting projects to fill their time. Several others own recreational vehicles and a couple neighbors recently purchased RVs to be able to travel and continue to be safe.
In chatting with many of our neighbors at a social distance, some are bored or frustrated, and others are enjoying the forced stay-at-home to clean out those closets or boxes in the garage they have meant to do for some time.
Carol Andrews, with the help from Kersten Seifert and Georgia Gonzales, have been busy sewing masks for residents at the Ranch, family members, women’s shelters, the homeless, and health facilities.
Have you ever played Rummikub? Well, Alastair and Helga Stone often play with another couple they know to be healthy. Lorretta Johnson has been continuing her art classes, which are now online. The cooler weather of fall has inspired her to do more painting. Jerry Strango has been leading a small group of plein air painters around the neighborhood to paint and visit galleries that are still open. Plein air painting is leaving your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing outdoors and in the landscape. Creating beautiful pottery pieces has been Diane Fuller’s passion during quarantine.
Many of our wildlife move around at night, so we don’t always get to see or experience their presence but Rainie and Erik Warner have captured visitors on their game camera.
When you can’t have a birthday party to mark a special day, throw an electric cart parade. While sitting in their driveway, waving at all the well-wishers dropping off cards, Ken Cook and Wes Hurst were blessed at having an unusual celebration.
“Guten morgen” may be your greeting from Georgia Gonzales. She has been spending at least 15 minutes each day studying German on the free, language-learning mobile app, Duolingo. “I’ve now spent 172 days doing this and haven’t broken my daily streak! Not that I can speak fluently yet, but I am certainly a lot further along,” Georgia said.
We were all saddened by the death of Bob Garrison in June. Bob was such a friendly and kind person; always engaging in a conversation when meeting his neighbors. To celebrate his life and provide comfort to his wife Connie, a memorial cart/vehicle parade provided a chance to do just that and pay our respects.
We welcome our new neighbors to Unit 7. Moving during a pandemic creates different challenges. Welcome Thomas and Maria McDermott from Corona, Calif.; Jeffry and Bambi Gansz; Harold and Vicki Peabody from Torrence, Calif.; Steven and Lisa Carlson from Arizona and Texas; Victor and Jeanne Nordstrom from Oro Valley; and Bob and Carol Henry from Englewood, Colo.
Keep smiling, be kind; we will be together again someday.
Karen, Amanda, and Bud Nelson at Pike’s Peak
Unit 9 Creativity and Connections Continues Into the Fall
Karen Nelson and Linda Shannon-Hills
As the weather begins to move into the fall temperatures, Unit 9 continues to be very productive with new ways to be creative, finding safe places to travel and so much more. The sun comes up a bit later in the morning and sets earlier in the evening, squeezing more activities into a shorter day.
A few of the Unit 9 BBQ chefs had fun preparing a rib feast for some of the neighborhood guys while the girls enjoyed dinner, drinks, and good conversation at the Ranch House Grill patio.
Beautiful creations continue to be inspired by Ceci Irwin. Gifts for the holidays, birthdays, and to just say “hi” to your friends. Contact Ceci at 775-737-8144 if you are interested in a piece or two.
Erin Newman spent much of her lockdown time creating more of her paper quilling art, an artistic passion she started in 2016. Such amazing work that you will enjoy.
What a great time to bring a new puppy or kitten into your family! Having time to train and play with this new member can be such a rewarding experience. Four families in Unit 9 added puppies to their family—Sheryl Berman and John Geiger, John and Melissa Newfang, Ceci and Steve Irwin, plus Cyndy and Chris Pylkka.
Safe socialization has taken on many forms in Unit 9. The Unit 9 Book Club has been reading some great books, such as Educated by Tara Westover, The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes and Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware.
On the reopening day to the summit of Mt. Lemmon, Bud and Karen Nelson, along with Sheryl Berman, John Geiger, and Beau the dog, packed a picnic dinner and headed up to the top of the mountain in the late afternoon to enjoy the cooler temperature, scenery and to catch the setting sun. Along the way, Sheryl and John’s car was adopted by a wayward raven. After inquisitively inspecting the car’s windshield wiper, this raven thought the wiper would be a great feast. Thankfully, after several tries, the raven decided that there had to be a better option for dinner that evening.
With the cooler evenings, driveway happy hours with social distancing have resumed with a tradition initiated in early summer to celebrate monthly birthdays with a toast and a cheer.
During Karen and Bud Nelson’s trip to Colorado they were happy to be able to meet up with their daughter Amanda for a drive up to Pikes Peak and the ski village of Vail. On their return trip to Arizona, they took a detour to Arches National Park for hiking and beautiful scenery.
On the exercise front, about 10 individuals started an informal Unit 9 biking group, meeting at 7:15 a.m. about four times a week and biking 10-12 miles within SBR. They are often referred to as the “biker gang” with many neighbors standing on the driveways to wave as they ride by. The group has spotted many coyotes and a few javelinas while on their rides. They also have Zumba classes online, golf outings, morning walks, and so much more.