A blogging friend pointed me towards a speech given by Robert Putnam in Minneapolis at the Westminster Town Hall Forum, broadcast on MPR.
Some of the interesting facts he referenced.
- Joining one group cuts your odds of dying next year in half.
- In 1975 the average American went on 5 picnics, last year 2004, average American went on two picnics.
- Dinner parties off by 60% in the last 30 years.
- In 1975, people had friends come over 14 times per year, by 1999 that had dropped to just 7 times.
I too was challenged by the "picnicing" fact. Hereby resolved to put my picnic blanket in my trunk.
Please don't tell me picnics are a dying art. My lover is an artist of the most brilliant kind. His medium is his heart and he paints the ground with a blanket and my body...and the food is a delight to behold. I live for our next picnic.
When I was a child, my parents frequently had friends over for small parties. So, when I went to college, it seemed only natural to get together with friends on a regular basis. After college, I have been so frustrated with the difficulty of getting together with people. It seems everyone is so busy with the tasks of daily living that they have no time to enjoy life.
Socializing by hosting or attending parties seems to be a dying art. Kat and I decided to fight that trend by hosting a quarterly party at our house. We will be hosting our six or seventh such party in June. I think our circle of friends is getting used to the idea of getting together on a regular basis.