News of Twin Oaks
As of 2016 our news stories are now appearing only on our public Facebook page.
June 16 saw us celebrating our 39th anniversary of Twin Oaks as a community. A group of members performed "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)", a hilarious take-off on many of the Bards' plays. [5-Jul-2006]
Twin Oaks is featured in the March 2006 issue of Yoga Journal, one of the premier yoga magazines in the US. Their article about intentional communities and ashrams includes photos and quotes from Twin Oakers. [posted 25-Mar-2006]
Two members of the ZEGG Community spent the past weekend at Twin Oaks offering a workshop on their "Forum" process, a communication and personal growth experience. Both Oakers and off-the-farm folks participated. [15-May-2006.]
You know you've lived on a commune when...
- you share a Netflix subscription with 4 or more people.
- you have no idea what Netflix is
- dinner conversation turns to reminiscing about your favorite McDonald's food before you stopped eating there. The longest-term member thinks they ate there once in the 80's.
- you or a member of your family has ever answered to the name Sage, Harmony or Rainbow
- you know the Briggs-Meyer, Enneagram or Aryuvedic dosha type of everyone you live with
- you've ever given or received feedback while naked, with someone other than your lover
- you share a checkbook with 5 to 75 other people
- you cringe at the phrase "high impact", because you want to get as far away from those people as possible, or because you are one of those people
- you've been on committees with more people than you've slept with
- you've ever organized an orgy by consensus
- you've decided when to hold a retreat based on the most auspicious astrological reading
- your household income breaks down to either $75 a month, or $250,000 annually, depending on how you look at it
Eight of the above are true for Valerie LivingWater, who has lived at Twin Oaks for 14 years.
Twin Oaks grows a significant portion of its food in a 2-1/2 acre organic vegetable garden. Pam is the Garden Manager, and works year-round with a crew to provide home-grown produce for the community. An interview (see below) with her will be published in an upcoming newsletter of the "Women, Food, and Agriculture Network." [1 Feb 2006]
Twin Oakers have a penchant for naming everything, including all of our communally-owned vehicles. By Valerie Renwick-Porter. [posted 23-Jan-2006]
No one has a personal vehicle while living here. Here's a list of our current vehicle names:
From our female icon theme:
- Indigo Girl (a blue car)
- Moon Unit (a silvery/gold truck)
- Betty Boop
- Lola
Puns on the word "car":
- Cari Krishna
- Escargot
Two of our vans:
- Vandrogyny
- Vanarchy
Other vehicle names:
- DragonWagon (greeny-blue station wagon)
- Navy Gravy (a tip of the hat to counter-culture icon Wavy Gravy) (a navy truck)
- Higher Yellow (reference to a Mao quote) (a yellow truck)
- Utofia (our tofu delivery truck)
- Viva Zapata (a nod to the Zapatistas)
- V-Eight (the last and punniest (it has a V8 engine) of our "beverage" series which included OJ and Cocoa, which were orange and brown vehicles)
- Blanche Whipple (white van)
- Ozone
- Jonathan Lesbian Seagull
Mala gave birth to a healthy baby boy on September 27, at 11:55 pm. The baby was born in Kaweah residence with Ezra (dad), Nancy (midwife), Kele and Meredith (birth team) in attendance. A birth party was in progress downstairs throughout the evening, sending support and celebrating the imminent arrival of the newest Twin Oaker. [posted 1 Oct 05]
Sean Samoheyl has been producing a lot of "self-taught" art at Twin Oaks: sculpture, painting, fiber, dolls, etc. His personal website has been improved recently and he's been showing/selling his amazing creations in a number of live and online venues. [31 Aug 2005]
Summer is at its peak and since we've been getting regular rainstorms, there is an abundance frogs and toads at our pond, in the woods, and near our houses. A number of us have been enjoying trying to identify the different frogs by their calls. A book with CD by Lang Elliott has been incredibly useful in this enjoyable quest. [20 July 2005]
