As anyone who lives on property in the Applegate knows, there’s always plenty to do out here. There’s repairing, stacking and trapping, straightening, tinkering, and mowing. There’s also pruning, weeding and burning, tightening, unclogging, and patching. Not to mention milking, trellising and tilling. Boredom generally isn’t an issue in the country.
But isolation can be an issue. Without a Main Street full of coffeeshops and stores, it can be hard to meet people and find out what’s happening around the valley. This isn’t just a matter of entertainment; social isolation is a health issues that can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety and cognitive decline. We are generally wired to connect. Even Henry David Thoreau, that famous “hermit” living on Walden Pond is said to have been pretty gregarious. For all his praises of solitude, he welcomed many drop-in visitors and attended plenty of dinner parties in nearby Concord.
A Digital “Main Street”
A Greater Applegate (AGA) is always coming up with ways to get our valley more connected. Their online community events calendar is part of this effort. You can find it right here on the Applegate Valley Connect website. This URL works as a digital “Main Street” where you can see Applegate events in one place. The selection of happenings is impressive: concerts, supper clubs, classes, farm tours, live music, food trucks, farmers markets, and volunteer parties.
Online event platforms are numerous and can be overwhelming, but Applegate Connect stands out in that it is specific to our valley. You can help the calendar continue to gain steam by using it to plan and post your own events. AGA has recently removed any need to register on the website, so you can go and post directly, no password required!
Living on rural property has its inherent entertainments. But as lovely as keeping company with acorn woodpeckers and gray squirrels can be, it has its limits. Your resident wildlife can’t share a sunset beer with you, or toast the completion of your new outbuilding, or sing along with you to the Brothers Reed. And sometimes you just need to get out.
That’s where Applegate Connect comes in.
