When I'm not traipsing through the
outside world, I spend a big chunk of my life right here in Shorewood. I don't drive, but that's not the reason. Shorewood's a bikable, walkable (for the most part), health-oriented (I'll skip the pesticides for now), shop-worthy, restaurant- and cafe-filled, active village, with more groups and organizations than I could list or even know about. So I'll stick to my personal orbit.
Writers from all over the country give readings at Schwartz on Oakland, just four blocks from my house, and if I'm in town and free, I'm always there. I also show up regularly at Schwartz for French Table the first and third Wednesday (8 PM) of every month, an informal gathering of those, like me, who need practice with their French and those who speak fluently. Even the book club I've been in for the past fifteen years meets mainly in the Shorewood area.
I founded a group,
Grass Roots, to educate residents about lawn pesticide risks; Keith Schmitz created Grassroots North Shore to promote progressive causes. I swam at the Shorewood Pool until, after 24 years, I got tired of cold water at 6:30 every morning. I now go to the Community Fitness Center instead.
Then there's the Second Sunday Salon, which Adolph and I have been a part of for the past two years. We meet to discuss moral, ethical, political, and practical issues, issues that make a difference in all our lives, and I think there should be intimate groups like this meeting all over, not just in one particular Shorewood home. After each salon I find myself thinking about whatever we discussed in a slightly different way. Last Sunday the topic was humanitarian aid. The facilitator emailed us some questions to consider beforehand: How does your spiritual practice shape your work in the world? How do you define "service"? Does humanitarian work enable poverty? What's the difference between overseas humanitarian work and national welfare programs? How are we connected to the poor of other nations?
I'll come back to this and other salon topics in future blogs, in the hope that some of you will want to start up similar groups. In a society of mindless media and entertainment news, we're losing our population of questioners.
