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Middlesex Senior Cohousing -- Building the first senior cohousing community in New England!
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"So the shortest day came, and the year died.
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow- white world
Came people singing, dancing
To drive the dark away."
What better way to mark the Winter Solstice than with Susan Cooper's poem "The Shortest Day." It was written for the Christmas Revels in Cambridge and has been recited at every performance for nearly fifty years. Like the Revels, it celebrates the ancient traditions of caroling, feasting and reveling to drive the dark away. And likewise the enduring power of community, even in the face of darkness.
It was in Revels that we began our search for real community. And so it seems fitting to share this poem with you now, at the close of the year. Scroll down to read it in full.
Meanwhile, here's a snapshot of this issue:
- Reasons to Revel! Our growing membership and a possible site!
- Our November site walk
- "Cohousing Communities Help Prevent Social Isolation" (PBS News Hour video)
- Phoenix Commons Senior Cohousing in Oakland, CA
- Many Voices, One Song
- "The Shortest Day" by Susan Cooper
May the joy of community be yours, this year and every year!
Welcome Yule!
Victoria & Mayhew
Co-founders
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We've Got Reasons to Revel!
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Here we are (14 of us) in our first group photo. We're looking cheery because we've got a lot to celebrate!
First, because our membership is growing apace. We now have 21 members representing 14 households, and we hail from nine MetroWest towns (A
cton, Arlington, Belmont, Concord, Framingham, Stow, Sudbury, Townsend, and Westford).
And second, we just started negotiations on a piece of property that might become the site of our future community.
So, given the time of year and these hopeful developments, we're organizing our First Annual Holiday Celebration for later this month. Bring in the fiddlers and let the revels begin!
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Back in October, our developer Matt identified a large property in our target area as being a good possibility for our future community. So in early November, we organized a site walk for our members.
Afterward, we headed over to New View Cohousing in West Acton, where we did a group assessment of the site. Later, s a result, we decided to take the next step and begin price negotiations with the landowners. Matt is on the case. We'll keep you posted.
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Cohousing Helps Prevent Social Isolation
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Cohousing Communities Help Prevent Social Isolation
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Groups in Denmark and the U.S. are choosing to live in intentional inter-generational communities, which emerged to strengthen social ties between aging seniors and their younger counterparts who are balancing work and family. People living in them say the model fosters an interdependent environment and helps everyone feel more comfortable with the process of getting older. Watch the video above to see how this is working.
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Phoenix Commons Senior Cohousing in Oakland, CA
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Happy Together: Baby Boomers Turn to Cohousing
For older adults, co-housing offers a sense of community without losing independence.
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Many people ask us about dynamic governance (aka sociocracy), the system of governance we're implementing. To learn about it, go to the
Sociocracy for All
website. Or click on this short video by our consultant, Jerry Koch Gonzales.
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2019 Events - Coming Soon!
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Our Calendar section is on holiday. Info sessions are being planned for 2019, and we'll let you know. Watch this space!
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THE SHORTEST DAY
by Susan Cooper
So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us--Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day.
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!
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About Middlesex Senior Cohousing
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We are a forming senior cohousing group in Metro-Northwest Boston. We're looking for three or more acres of land in Maynard or West Acton, Massachusetts, on which to build a collaboratively designed, self-managed neighborhood of 20 or so privately-owned, cottage-style houses (duplexes or triplexes) with large porches and private back patios. There will be shared open space and a large common house with extensive amenities, including a large kitchen and Great Room for optional community meals and celebrations, as well as guest suites and other spaces for things like home offices, woodworking, crafts, yoga, etc.
We're growing our group and looking for members!
Take our
Survey of Interest
(on the homepage of our website) to find out if our future neighborhood might be just what you're looking for. To learn about cohousing go to The Cohousing Association of America at
www.cohousing.org
.
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