Purple Haze Meadows

Anyone under the the age of 40 has spent years enduring baby boomer's endless self-involvement. From activism to rock 'n roll to space exploration we've seen American culture warped by the jaded notion that anything worth doing was discovered first and done before by this colossal demographic, and then endlessly amplified by our already-narcissistic media.

So now this bunch is considering going back to commune-style living as they live out their sunset years. A piece in the New York Times describes the concept of co-housing, whereby a raft of oldsters joins forces to share rent and play canasta. The group of Californians described in the article is admittedly a few decades older than the boomers, but the tone of the writing suggests a familiar "back to Woodstock" vibe.

Even revolutionaries need to be flexible. At Glacier Circle, where the first tulips of spring are popping up, the group had approved special wall insulation for Mr. Morrison, who has a penchant for playing Mahler's Ninth Symphony at 3 a.m. When the bass and timpani pulse through his subwoofer, his neighbor Dorie Datel, a youthful 80-year-old, just lets it slide. For Ms. Datel, whose husband left her for "the other woman" he met at Elderhostel, this group's wisdom and resolve are embedded in the square footage.

Of course, everything happens first in California. As the boomers approach their Centrum silver years we can expect more childish bickering as they steal each others medicinal pot and exchange over-enthusiastic investment advice, all the while dragging our economy slowly under the padded, pastel-toned geriatric bus.

Do I come across as annoyed? While I am tired of the boomer mindset, there is an opportunity for them to redeem themselves, in part, by pioneering more dignified ways to get old, remain healthy, and eventually kick the bucket. Less-institutional care for the elderly has worked in other contexts for generations - notably in homes for the religious, where nuns keep busy looking after one another. Maybe I'm dreaming - but if their aging self-adoration can lead to an economically-sound model for community living ... then I'm willing to entertain the idea that their overall contribution to society wasn't a net loss.