99 – Communities

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I like walking on the beach. It’s good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

Community is an interesting word – a word with multiple meanings – a word used differently by biologists, sociologists, and the general population.

I’m confident the initial thought for most people fits into the sociological word. In the biological world, a community is a group of different populations of organisms living and interacting together.

Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels.com

The lake community is made of different fish, turtles, insects, frogs, algae, single-celled organisms, plants, and more – all living and interacting together in various food chains interwoven into a more complex food web. All the smallmouth bass in a specific lake form a population – not a community – but the lake community is composed of many populations.

There is a biological community on this beach that I walk, although I don’t know enough about the organisms here. Another community exists within the shallow water. Different communities exist with changing depths and distances from shore.

Whereas in terms of biology, we humans are one population of the same species – Homo sapiens. Yet, we relate to sociological communities – a group of people identifying themselves in a common spirit.

I think of the main (but different) communities in my current life – my neighborhood, my dance friends, my church, the golf club where I work, my golf league – all are groups of different people with common interests. Work and hobbies also unite people into communities.

Photo by Laurens den Besten on Pexels.com

I grew up in a small town that would be more of a community than a small city. However, my small town had neighborhood communities: Sugar Run, Mulberry Heights, Lincoln Heights, Naylor’s Run, Kerr’s Run, and more.

I think about the community of my nearby neighbors in my small town. We kids within a few streets who played together – and the parents who knew each other. Parents would watch over all of us while we played – or even provide a snack to the group. It seems those days are not only gone, but I question if they will ever return.

A college campus is a distinct community within a municipal community. The two interact in a variety of ways, yet are each is quite distinct.

I think about the wave of immigrants who left their homeland to find a new life in America and other countries throughout the world. Many lived in the same neighborhood, some of which live on today in areas known as Little Italy, Germantown, Chinatown, Greektown, and others.

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

I think about other types of communities today where people gather for support around a common interest – LGBT, a variety of personal support groups, groups for hobbyists as knitting, modern trains, Civil War reenactments, wine, and many more. Let us not forget the political communities – groups of like-minded people around an ideology.

Technology has created electronic communities. Facebook connects a social network as a way to keep in touch with people you know. Blogs have fostered new connections of people who didn’t know each other and may never meet – yet join together to form a community of common interests, support, and genuine respect. Technology has fostered the term virtual communities. So yes, technology and travel have brought the world community closer.

As I walk the beach on this day, I can’t forget the snowbird communities found here and throughout the southern US. Snowbirds – mainly retired people from northern locations who migrate to the south for warmer temperatures during winter. Snowbirds know that no matter how cold it gets here, it is warmer than home.

All the above and more is the world of communities. Just think, all these communities share one planet.

I enjoy being a snowbird and being part of the snowbird community. I also like walking the beach because walking the beach is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

See what other bloggers have posted about communities

• Tuesday Treat: Dune Community (photo essay)
• Rainer, Elk – Stamina and Community (eesay)
• Weymouth – Canada’s Oldest Multi-cultural Community (photos and essay)
• The Pros and Cons of Community (essay by a visit here)
• 11 Ways the Blogging Community Changed Me (essay)

Next Post: Good – Wednesday 22 December @ 1 AM (Eastern US)