Join us for the third Putting Down Roots Sustainability Salon and Sing, this time on a Second Saturday! Following rousing discussions on solar power and food, this month we'll throw the conversational field open as we approach the 43rd Earth Day. We can revisit growing and sourcing food, check in on our rooftop garden and solar panels, learn about green building, regional air quality or the ever-changing situation with Marcellus Shale, contemplate the meaning of "sustainability"... What we talk about will depend in part upon who comes; that's the beauty of an open-ended gathering like this! (check back here for event updates.)
3-10 p.m. on Saturday April 14th, at Maren's house in Squirrel Hill. Please email me to RSVP (important, even if you know right where we live, or are a maybe, please do so each time -- it helps greatly in several ways) and I'll send directions and/or a trail map if you need 'em. Be sure to include "salon" in the Subject line, as I receive a ridiculous amount of email every day. Bring food or drink to share if you can, along with musical instruments if you play.
Quite a few people have asked me what sorts of food to bring -- and my answer, as always, is whatever inspires you; I believe in the "luck" part of potlucks. Tasty noshings for the afternoon, hearty main dishes or scrumptious salads and sides for dinner, baked goods from biscuits and breads to brownies or baklava -- and/or beverages of any kind. The more the merrier! Local fare is always particularly welcome, whether homegrown or boughten. Dishes containing meat are fine, though if it isn't really obvious please make a note of it.
And if you like to make music or listen to homemade music, don't forget the evening sing -- we typically run the gamut from Irish fiddle tunes to protest songs, and a fun time is had by all. Bring instruments if you play, and/or pick up one of ours! Conversations will continue through the evening as well.
Putting Down Roots Sustainability Salons are an ongoing series of conversational salons in the French Enlightenment tradition: informal gatherings aimed at lively discussion around the notion of sustainability. Some will feature one or more guests to lead a discussion or provide key insights on a particular topic, others will be open to whatever comes up. Themes will likely include things like growing food (permaculture, local and urban agriculture, roof gardening, beekeeping, mushroom culture, etc.); green building and green living; urban trees, park exploration and stewardship; regional air quality and watershed issues; Marcellus shale, climate change, or alternative energy. The afternoon discussions begin around 2pm at our home in Squirrel Hill, and are followed by a potluck dinner and a folksing. Folks are welcome to attend for all or part of the afternoon and evening, and are encouraged to bring musical instruments as well as food or drink to share.
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Regular, that's the plan. Eminent and intellectual people, to be sure -- that's yinz. House, check. Woman, c'est moi. High society, celebrity, socialite? Not so much. Salons occurred in 17th-century France, purportedly powering the Enlightenment, and were more recently repopularized by the Utne Reader. I've long contemplated hosting an ongoing series of conversational salons in this tradition: informal gatherings around the notion of sustainability. Some will have a featured guest to lead a discussion on a particular topic, others will be open to whatever comes up.
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