SpongeBob, monkeys, and a giant bear that my family and I found on a walk in the neighborhood.
Most of us have not been outside of our homes in a few weeks or maybe even months. If anyone knows me I’m not one who can be kept in a house for too long. I like to go on adventures, travel, and spend time with friends and family. In other words, being in quarantine has been difficult. A few weeks ago I noticed my neighbor had a stuffed animal in her window. Later that week I noticed she kept moving it and it became a game every morning for me to find where she put the teddy bear. I later learned it was a neighborhood game. The game originally started in New Zealand and later traveled through Europe, the U.S. and the rest of the world. The object of the game is to take a walk in your neighborhood and find as many teddy bears as possible. I was driving through a neighborhood with my mom, on my way to pick up take out from my favorite restaurant, when I noticed almost every house in the neighborhood had a teddy bear in the window. And some of them were very funny.Â
About a week later my family and I took a walk through the neighborhood and I was able to capture my favorite window displays. The monkey hugging another monkey in a tie-dye tee-shirt had my whole family laughing. The huge teddy bear perfectly balanced in a bay window was by far my favorite find on the walk. The bear looked so happy sitting there watching the children ride their bikes and families walking by. One of the last windows we walked by had an entire collection of SpongeBob characters in the window. Some windows had rainbows or thank you signs to show appreciation and support for health care workers. By the end of the walk, I think my family and I saw thirty or more teddy bears and rainbows. These symbols showed the impact the pandemic had on the community. It not only got my family out of the house, but it also brought the community and the world closer together. As I walked around the neighborhood I knew that as I was searching for bears here in the United States another girl might be searching for bears in England or Australia. This game has shed light during a dark time and brought the entire world together.Â