The Story of Us

The Story of US (The D@D Community)! When I was recently asked to explain how our D@D Virtual Village differs from online communities, I found myself grasping for the right words to adequately explain how the extraordinary blending of two normally completely separate worlds, the online and the onsite, occurs at Dunrovin. In general, the cyber world is “placeless.” Facebook, for example, lacks a geography of real places in which people can meet and interact in real time not only with other people but with the animals and people inhabiting a shared physical space. I soon realized how sterile mere words would be in trying to explain the dynamics, as well as invoke the feelings and emotions, of belonging to our blended D@D Community. I needed to tell a story. As fortune would have it, the perfectly illustrative Dunrovin story happened at precisely the right moment. I’m calling it the “Story of US”, and I would love your feedback as to its accuracy in conveying how you feel about D@D. Please post your comments in the Discussion Board on the Live Cam page of the D@D website.

Rescuing a Pigeon. The morning of May 20, 2024 was just like most spring mornings in the D@D Virtual Village: Melissa, the D@D volunteer webcam operator from North Carolina, was at her laptop maneuvering the nest and ranch webcams to be sure that all who had gathered on the website could participate in the morning’s activities: the resident ospreys Swoop and Winnie tending their three eggs tucked into the fluffy bowel of their enormous nest; the Dunrovin Ranch crew going about their chores of gathering and feeding the herd and cleaning up the endless piles of manure and scattered hay droppings; and the little birds (and often those scoundrel squirrels) feasting at the bird feeders under the pine tree near the barn. Melissa swung the nest cam from watching Beth feed some of the horses near the mare’s pen, to the pine tree bird feeders, but when she went to move it back to its home position on the ospreys’ nest, she noticed something struggling near the ground, at the end of one of the lines used to raise and lower the birdfeeders. She zoomed in to discover an ordinary Rock pigeon that had caught its wing in the line and was unable to dislodge itself (see video).

It clearly needed help. Melissa along with other chatters decided to text the ranch to alert those of us on the ground to the pigeon’s plight. Upon receiving Melissa’s text, I called Beth and asked her to help free the pigeon, which she carefully did with the support of her canine companion Ranger, who then chased the relieved pigeon as it flew off (see video). This incident displays the unusual characteristics of our D@D community. We really exist in both the real physical world and the cyber world that serves to connect us across distances. Each of us has agency in both worlds. The ranch, its animals, its natural beauty, and its wildlife emotionally belong to all of us regardless of where we are. Swoop and Winnie are unaware of any of us, yet every one of us gives them our constant concern and affection. While those of us onsite have the privilege of interacting physically with the horses, the joy we feel is magnified by sharing it with our cyber friends. Knowing that you are there loving the animals right along with us gives us immense pleasure. We all feel a sense of ownership, attachment, and pride in taking care of the ranch. In fact, our online members frequently notice things that we don’t – like the struggling pigeon, or a broken fence rail, or an empty water trough. The ranch crew has come to rely on all the eyes and ears that lovingly watch over our world.

And it doesn't stop there. We not only share this place, but hold a collective set of values that compels us to treat one another, the animals, and nature with reverence and kindness. Together we rescued the pigeon simply because it needed it, in spite of its lowly cultural value and disdain at being called rats with wings. Pigeons are, in fact, known to be one of the most hated birds in America – and not because of what pigeons naturally are, but because of what humankind has made of them. But, we don’t think in these terms. We welcome their presence on the nest during the winter months. We see the pigeons as fellow travelers in nature's mystical land, having inherent beauty and value (see video). We appreciate the many services they have given mankind for centuries and acknowledge the negative environmental consequences of their domestication at mans’ hands. We understand that it is we, not pigeons, who hold the title of the singularly most environmentally destructive species of animal in our world today. 

It gives me fathomless gratitude to be among people (all of YOU) who share my curiosity, wonder, joy, and sense of obligation toward doing my part, however small, to right the wrongs in our broken, yet exquisitely resilient and sustaining, natural world. We have collectively created something unique and special here in our blended online/onsite Dunrovin community. It has expanded my horizons, nurtured me through physical and emotional challenges, and provided safe harbor. May it be thus for all of you as well, and may it long endure.