The beginning of our seasonal climb from the shortest day of the year towards the longest reminds me of the image (provided by Rob Hopkins, I believe) of the iconic peak-oil Hubbert Curve turned upside down. In this more positive representation, we are swimming upwards from the depths of our oil dependency toward a satisfying and happy, albeit different, life. Transition Houston has been exploring that future in small pieces with our awareness-raising, our community-forming, and manifestations of resiliency such as our permabiltzes. During the new year we will continue that work, but also explicitly connect with other aligned organizations through our Action Groups, and progress toward a Great Unleashing.
There are several events of interest in the works for January 2011, including the Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale, screening of Climate Refugees, monthly meetings of Transition Houston, Transition Old Sixth Ward, and the Clear Lake Transition Initiative, and a Clear Lake permablitz. More details will come soon regarding the monthly meetings and permablitz, but for now here is information about the fruit tree sale, a related volunteer opportunity, and the movie screening.
Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale, Saturday, January 15
Fruit trees offer a great opportunity for abundant food with minimal effort, and can be a core element of personal resilience. Fruit tree sale season is coming up early in the new year, with a number of organizations holding sale days. One of the sales coming up soon is the Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale. This annual sale brings together far more types and varieties of fruit trees than can be found anywhere else in the greater Houston area This year the sale is going to be held at Robertson Football Stadium, on the University of Houston Main Campus (Scott Street at Holman Street).
Event: Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale
Place: Robertson Football Stadium on the University of Houston campus Scott Street at Holman Street
Date: January 15, 2011
Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until sold out
Buy a tree or two from the largest one-day fruit tree sale in the U.S. and learn “the how to’s” at the presale talks:
Presale talks: Heidi Sheesley and Ray Sher
Place: United Way of Greater Houston, 50 Waugh Drive at Memorial Drive
Dates: Tuesday, January 4 (7 to 9:30 p.m.) and Saturday, January 8 (2 to 4:30 p.m.)
Learn more at www.urbanharvest.org
Volunteers needed for Fruit Tree Sale, January 13-15
The Urban Harvest sale can not happen without the contributions of volunteers, both for setup on Thursday and Friday, January 13 and 14, and on the actual day of the sale on Saturday, January 15. You do not have to volunteer for every one of those days! If you are interested please contact Bob Randall as soon as possible. His contact email is baeb at comcast dot net. This is a great opportunity to learn about the sorts of fruit and other productive trees and bushes which are well-suited for the Houston area, and to meet other interesting and like-minded people.
Movie Screening: Climate Refugees, Wednesday, January 26
Transition Houston, the USGBC Emerging Professionals (EP), and the Rice Environmental Club are presenting the next film in our green film series on Wednesday, January 26. The movie is Climate Refugees, a documentary film about “the human face of climate change.” Information about the movie can be found at www.climaterefugees.com, including film trailers. More details will come soon, but please save the date!
Climate Refugees film screening
Place: Rice University Media Center, corner of University Blvd and Stockton, entrance #8 on the Rice University Campus
Date: Wednesday, January 26
Time: 6:30pm
Transition Houston is looking forward to another great year of community, connection, relocalization, and resiliency in 2011. We wish you a happy and joyful New Year!
Transition Houston 