When you ask someone about White Hawk, they might mention the amazing wooded groves or waving fields of grasses and wildflowers. There is no denying that the land is beautiful, but there is also a certain beauty to the people that have chosen to call this land their home.

I have lived in several different situations. I have memories of apartment buildings where I didn’t know the name of my next door neighbors and avoided encounters. I have lived in suburban areas where a wave to our neighbors was the extent of our interactions. White Hawk is different. We know each other. We stop and talk to each other if we’re passing in the parking lot, on the road, or just out gardening in our backyards. We can ask each other for rides to the airport or to pick up something in town if we’ve forgotten. After a sudden injury, I was able to call on my neighbors to take my son to football practice with little notice. Village kids go in and out of their friends’ homes, calling for each other to come out and play. Neighbors gather for board games or conversation without having to get in a car and drive somewhere. When we find ourselves in need of a shovel, a pressure cooker, or a cup of sugar, we can go next door and ask to borrow or barter. This allows us to cut down on our individual consumerism and clutter. We gather for potlucks and fires once a month, or more, to renew our ties and meet others who might want to be a part of this wonderful community. From my very first visit to this community, I felt accepted, welcomed and included.

White Hawk is 120 acres of unfettered beauty; it is a small pocket of wilderness close to a town rich in culture and activities. But it is so much more than that. It is, above all, a community. It is a gathering of individuals and families that have chosen to build their homes next to people they are proud to call friends. In this environment, we can rely on each other and grow together to bring about the change we want to see in the world, a little at a time.