“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” ― Jiddu Krishnamurti

Some of us have been forced, by society's decision to pretend the COVID-19 pandemic is "over" and our own health risks, to strike out on a less community-oriented path. We find community online and with the few friends willing to accommodate our needs, meeting outdoors, even in winter. What constitutes "community" is not only the straightforward, traditionalist picture you paint in parts of your essay. And being "fringe" can be profoundly enlightening.