Play Structures

Neighborhood Guests on the Play Structure

Neighborhood children are allowed on the property, with or without resident children, with the permission and supervision of an adult resident.

Implementation Guidelines

• Neighborhood children may knock on doors to seek permission

• Adult supervisors are expected to be within earshot and check frequently

• Failure to respond to supervision may result in being asked to leave

The Children Committee will enlist the support of residents, children and visiting children in promoting a widespread understanding of these guidelines by others including the parents of visiting children. The group committed to measures aimed at maintaining consistency in our approach even as the community made further adjustments to changing conditions and concerns.

Silver Maple House

Even as we mourn the loss of our beloved regal East End silver maple, we are seizing the opportunity to honor its century+ of delight, shelter and embrace by transforming its base into a new kind of place inspiring new generations with delight, shelter and embrace on a smaller scale. At the November 2012 Cambridge Cohousing general meeting we conducted a sharing of "hopes and fears" for the future of the East End silver maple stump.

We fear:

• The stump is rotted out

• It will cost more when we find we need to cut it down to ground level

• We will need to pay to remove the roots to plant new trees

• A stump sculpture/shelter might not be done well

• If we cut the stump to the ground it will be difficult and expensive to fill in the fence gap

We hope:

• To transform it into a bench

• To transform it into a shelter or a bench in a shelter

• To create something like the stump bench at Agassiz/Baldwin's steps up to a bench

• To create something like the whimsical 16-foot-tall stump sculpture in London

• To attract the participation of an artist to inspire something special

The discussion generated not just hopes and fears but launched the Stump Task Force charged with developing a concrete plan of action guided by the concerns and aspirations of the community. The first meeting of the task force in December 2012 included neighbor/designer Eric Pfeufer, an acknowledgement that the presence of the silver maple is felt across our neighborhood and that the stump sculpture-shelter could be an asset to all that call this neighborhood home for a long time.

Stump Sculptures/Shelters that Inspire Us

Here is a sample of images and links to inspiring examples of the kind of creative expression triggered by trees we have known around the world and the remarkable artistry of "woodbutchers" across time.