Sharon (not her real name) left her community of twenty-five years to move 1500 miles to a new town, new state, and different culture ( New England vs. Texas) because her daughter insisted on it. Her daughter had her reasons: her mother was developing dementia and since she lived alone there was no way that […]
Read More...Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Should I stay or should I go? This lyric by The Clash (remember them?) has been sticking with me. For The Clash the question was about a relationship. But it could also be about a house. This week I visited a friend whom I knew when we were much younger. We were in school together, […]
Read More...Common A Co-Living Community for Millennials Only
With this post we begin a series about the various home sharing services that are available. Today, we take a look at Common, a co-living community that is is designed for millennials. A New York-based company Common manages nine co-living apartment buildings. What Common Offers Common manages buildings in Brooklyn, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, […]
Read More...Who’s Got the Power? (And What You Can Do About It)
Have you ever gone canoeing? If so, did you experience the need to coordinate with the other paddler to make sure you moved in the direction you both wanted to go? Two people in a canoe, one paddles in the back, one paddles in the front. If one person paddles without paying attention, the canoe […]
Read More...Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You
“Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You” is the magnet on her refrigerator. It is a brave, optimistic attitude. Joy summons it up as she copes with her husband’s illness and their growing infirmities. We first met in the late 1960’s and have stayed friends. Her sturdy Russian husband, Walt, worked well into his […]
Read More...A Case for Organization When Living with Home-Mates
Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you to make a case for organization. By this I mean if you find yourself living with someone who has the mistaken notion that the expensive Henkels paring knife belongs with the tools, it’s time you and your home-mate have a heart-to-heart discussion of where certain items belong. I […]
Read More...“I’m Bourgeois Now,” Says the Former Commune Member
Richard doesn’t look like a former commune member with his starched oxford shirt, fancy watch and short-hair. “I’m bourgeois now, but I’m a hippie inside,” he says. The commune he helped to found, Packer Corners Farm, lasted for twenty-five years. In its day it was famous. The Experiment It started when Richard and friends from […]
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