Are you looking for a way to commemorate the season of quarantine with your neighbors?
We saw those drone photos floating around Pinterest of culdesacs with folks in their lawn chairs, grilling with the family across the street—just from their own drive ways. Taking such a photo seemed like a decent way to try and get people together and bring some smiles to our quarantine. So we attempted a similar idea with the families on our block.
Do you want to do it too?
Here are 5 simple steps to the quarantine neighbor photo challenge.
1. Get a go for the idea
We sent a couple feeler texts and inquired as to availability. Since our stay at home order was still in affect, it wasn’t hard to find a time when everyone was home.
2. Set a time
We picked a Saturday afternoon and planned to take the photo. It was funny trying to connect with the whole block, because it’s so unlike organizing a typical photo with a team or a group of friends or family, because there’s not an easy way to communicate with everyone! Some of our neighbors don’t text and one doesn’t even have a home phone. We even creepily waited till we saw neighbors outside and pounced!
Truth be told, because I was so eager to get everyone involved and hopeful for the final product, I was probably a little pushier than normal trying to get folks on board—especially when they didn’t understand the ultimate vision. After the fact, I know they’d all be willing to take one every year! But the unknown is always hard. It would’ve been a good idea to have an idea of the photo to show folks, but thankfully we have the pre-existing relationship with our neighbors that they trusted me a little bit and could lean into the discomfort of my weird plans.
3. Rally the troops
When it was time to take the photo, me and the kids and the kids from next-door knocked on doors and invited everyone out to take the pic. We positioned everyone in their family groups, 6 ft apart, and kind of in the order of our homes along the block.
4. Take the pic!
It took all of 10 minutes. We smiled and Jake took a few photos. It looked like a giant band photo with the drone catching our block shooting off in the horizon.
Because the excitement and curiosity about what it looked like was high. It’s not everyday a drone takes your picture…I didn’t feel like I had to keep the pic a surprise until we got it developed. So we texted it to people, showed people as we visited after taking the pic, and thanked them for playing along.
5. Develop & Deliver
We sent it off to get developed and ordered 5X7’s copies.
We made a quick set of “Quaranteam” cards (I like to buy bulk kraft cards and envelopes and simply run a strip of washi tape on the lower third, then handletter something on the front). Then we wrote a genuine note inside to each of our neighbors.
We’re committed to calling out the good things we notice in the people living alongside us—things that probably would go unnoticed, and surely unsaid, in most neighbor relationships. It is an opportunity for us to show gratitude for what we appreciate about each person and speak encouragement and hope over their lives.
We’ve found that taken the time to speak bold words of encouragement is foundational to the neighboring relationship and practicing vulnerability and openness.
Finally, the kids and I are always baking. So we baked a couple different recipes (Pinch of Yum granola and breakfast cookies) and packaged some treats up to deliver alongside our “Quaranteam” cards.”
Wala! Challenge complete.
Now. If all that sounds like a bit too much. Or if you don’t have a drone, or simply don’t feel like baking, don’t give up hope just yet.
There are still ways to pull this challenge off.
Easily simplify it by gathering everyone together and line up on one side of the block Red-rover style! Then have someone else take the photo. When you get them developed just write on the back with sharpie, “Quaranteam 2020” and deliver in people’s mailboxes. The memory of that goes a long way.
If you take on the quaranteam neighbor photo challenge. Let us know in comments below or tag us on instagram!
Happy neighboring!