Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Private amenities vs common resources

[PattyMara Gourley (pattymara]

On Fri, 21 Mar 2003 22:15:00 -0700 manya [at] shaw.ca writes:
>After all, for the twice yearly need to
> roast a 20lb turkey we can use the common kitchen.

I'm trying to imagine the sign up list for reserving the common house
ovens for individuals to cook their turkeys.  Let's see, 27 families,
each needing about 3 or 4 hours of oven time, about a hundred hours to
schedule.  What would the list look like?  And how do you decide who has
the 2 am - 6 am shift?  I get the giggles imagining my neighbors in their
jammies and bathrobes carrying the roaster pan with bird, to the common
house in the dead of night.  Or maybe the turkeys are all cooked by
Lynn's "magic elves"?

Around those turkey holidays, it's more feasible to arrange for a shared
meal.  At Tierra Nueva, we've celebrated over a decade of shared
Thanksgivings (and Givingthanks on the following Saturday).  The common
house ovens, and barbeque, cook two or three turkeys for the households
participating.  Some families do choose to celebrate privately, and use
their own ovens.  Many travel to be with family and friends elsewhere.  

These days, my family tends to want to celebrate holidays alone,
especially since the kids became teens, then college/grad students.  The
time we have together is precious, and I savor the "table time" when we
eat together at home.  Our latest practice is to do holiday meals  at
home, then saunter over to the common house feast, carrying a pie, and
have dessert with our community.  

I use my standard-size oven all the time, for holidays and for normal
days. Some of my neighbors hardly ever cook or bake,  Kitchen design
depends so much on lifestyles, which can change over the years, as ours
has.   Offer a range of amenities to suit many choices. 

PattyMara, Tierra Nueva, central CA coast

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