I've probably romanticized this place over the years, but I've always been interested in communal living and find myself considering it again. I just read a post here about East Wind which is part of the FEC with Twin Oaks and was disconcerted to hear of daily drinking binges: http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5273 I'm not against alcohol, but getting drunk every day is not my idea of utopia. Reading the East Wind web page and reading the above thread sounds like two different communities... Is Twin Oaks like this as well?
There's really nothing unusual about obtaining vastly different impressions from a community's website and from actual reports of people who have been there. A website is the community's advertising and public image. They naturally accentuate the positive and refrain from airing their dirty laundry in public. That's why it's useful to track down reports (on this site and elsewhere) from people who have actually been on site. As far as Twin Oaks is concerned, it's somewhat more mellow and less rowdy than its country cousin, East Wind. TO has been around for quite awhile, and there are a lot of older, long term members there who have long since outgrown the "party animal" stage.
Thanks for the response Mikey. Glad to hear Twin Oaks is mellower. I guess I overreacted with the notion that TO could be vastly different than I have believed for the last 12 years. I hope to visit and maybe join there some day. Wow, 12 years and I'm still saying "some day". I read what seemed to be a fairly non-biased visitor experience at TO here: http://www.geocities.com/jimcorreale/TwinOaks1.html Anyone else have anything to say about Twin Oaks?
Thanks for sharing this persons account of there stay at Twin Oaks.... I've also been pondering community living situations...... Love to talk with others about this. happy dayK Kris
