Please join us on Saturday (6 May 2023) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. Please note that this group is still meeting via Zoom.  You will need … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (6 May 2023)"

Many Buddhists recognize today as Vesak, a day which commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha. (This is a lunar holiday, so it doesn’t always fall on May 5.) And this will be the third year of a Vesak ceremony in the White House. (Nicely timed this year to lead off Asian and Pacific … Continue reading "Vesak in the White House"

From the novel Second Sister by Chan Ho-Kei, a native Hong Konger. The novel is set in Hong Kong in the year 2014, and follows the adventures of Au Nga-Yee as she tries to find out why her sister Siu-Man committed suicide by jumping from the window of their apartment. Without spoiling things for you, … Continue reading "The meaning of justice"

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Let me tell you a little bit about Unitarian Universalist (UU) views on prayer. Back in 1997, I was on the Pamphlet Commission for the Unitarian Universalist Association. We were updating an old pamphlet titled “UU Views on Prayer.” We were reviewing a collection of excellent brief statements … Continue reading "Not me"

In responding to recent attacks on trans and nonbinary+ people, the UUA calls out the dangerous anti-democratic practices being used to silence dissent. We pledge our continued commitment to protect peoples' right to feel safe expressing their identity and to defend democratic institutions. Continue reading "Trans, Nonbinary+ Lives and Democracy are at Risk: UUs Unequivocally Defend Justice"

Lyonel Perabo argues for why reading can't be an end unto itself for true development in the Pagan world. Continue reading Opinion: Against Reading at The Wild Hunt.

Jeff Milchen As voters successfully fight repressive laws, more GOP legislatures attempt to stifle citizen initiatives.

Back in June of 2021 I wrote this about nightly winter and spring walks with Socks, my dog: “Each night when the clouds pulled back Orion appeared a little more toward the West. Always he walked with his dog, Sirius, as I walked with mine. Before him was Arigua, the great boar (I have always […]

UU minister Rev. Tony Fisher narrates his experience with Florida’s Build a New World March

When I first began exploring career possibilities in back high school, I decided pretty quickly that I wanted to work in publishing. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a children’s author, but even back then, the practical side of me knew I would also need to find a day job I was equally passionate about to support myself. Considering my lifelong obsession with books, publishing was the obvious choice! 

I have training in music composition and have written original works for ensembles large and small. However, it might be more precise to call me an arranger. While I can write something original if needed, my heart is in arranging. … Continue reading →

“They say I must be one of the wonders, God’s own creation. And as far as they see, they can offer no explanation.” -Natalie Merchant What is something inexplicable that you wonder about?

Advertising like this promotes stereotypes of Mexican culture and promotes party-til-you-puke celebrations by Americans. Note:  This is at least the 11th year I have run essentially the same post with a little tinkering on the margins. I keep running it because the same shit happens again every year and my Mexican and Chicano friends keeps asking me to bring it back. Today is, as every hearty partyer will tell you, is Cinco de Mayo.  In the U.S. it has become kind of second St. Patrick’s Day decked out in sombreros and serapes instead of emerald green, toasted to with Coronas with lime and shots of tequila instead of Guinness and Jamison’s, and laid out with two-for-one taco deals instead of corn beef and cabbage.  It is celebrate...

A Prayer For Abundant, Imperfect Enoughness, Week of May 8, 2023 Lover of Imperfection, Still-Becoming, Not-Yet, Still-Enough, hold us and encourage us to hold each other tenderly, questioning the sources and power accrual behind expectations to do more than we have energy to do, to not experience illness, impairment, or...

A Silver Denarius of Severus Alexander (Rome, 226 AD) showing Annona with corn-ears & cornucopiae, modius at foot A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation. (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece)   —o0o—    A few weeks ago some of you may have read reports about an announcement made by the current Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire, Lucy Frazer, that, on Coronation Day, 3,800 seats were to be made available in front of Buckingham Palace in a specially built grandstand. Frazer told us that these seats were to be offered to military veterans ...

Brazil's President Lula da Silva or simply Lula announced that his government has recognized six new Indigenous reserves. Continue reading Brazil expands Amazon protection by recognizing 6 Indigenous areas at The Wild Hunt.

A series on UUSC’s partners in Eastern Europe.

Sunday, May 7   Explorations Service: Creativity Our ministerial theme for the month of May is  Creativity. Join us this Sunday, May 7th, for an experiential exploration of the theme. We will begin worship together in the Sanctuary and then divide into smaller groups for Exploration activities. The choices will be: Creative Exploration through Art: Make a   [ … ] The post Sunday, May 7 ~ Explorations Service: Creativity ~ 10:30 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

I have always loved a good mystery. As a child, I devoured mystery novels, fascinated to see how the unsolved questions would be answered. As an adult, I revel in questions with no provable answers. It is fun to think “what if,” and “maybe” without knowing. -Michael Tino (CLF) Make up a story to answer … Continue reading Mystery

UUSC is proud to be part of the UU@UN Office, which helps advance human rights at the United Nations.

John Filo's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of 14 year-old Florida runaway Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller. Note —May 4th is one of those dates that stop us in our tracks when they roll around each year.   At least it does for an ageing generation who were young and radical fifty-three years ago.   When the Ohio National Guard opened fire on campus anti-war protestors at Kent State University killing four and injuring several it was a shock of vulnerability for privileged White kids flirting with revolution.   Black students, although outraged, were not at all shocked by killings at Jackson State University in Mississippi days later. If you are a member of subsequent generations, the date may have no mean...

Hustle where it’s important. Chill where it’s not. Accept reality, especially the reality that rest is a necessity. You get to decide what’s important. And then order your life to show that it really is.

In her autobiography, How To Be Champion by comedian Sarah Millican, she weaves threads of her life into a funny historical perspective on the person she is today. She is funny, irreverent, and timely.  Chapter 37 is about an online … Continue reading →

Two discoveries, one in Italy and the other in Spain, shed some understanding on ancient cultures and how their gods moved about and were represented in art. Continue reading Two discoveries in the Mediterranean shed light on ancient cultures and gods at The Wild Hunt.

I’m a day late in celebrating International Working People’s Day, the real Labor Day that’s celebrated pretty much everywhere in the world except in the U.S. My only excuse is that both my personal life and my professional life are overly full these past few weeks. My day-late celebration will include reading UU Patrick Murfin’s … Continue reading "The May Day that mostly doesn’t get celebrated in UU congregations"

Anna Bethea , Janice Marie Johnson , Carey McDonald New online hub will offer resources, support for dismantling oppression.

Today in the wood shop at the Clear Spring School we made more boats. In the meantime, others share my concerns that Artificial Intelligence, AI, will be used for purposes that will be intended to destroy the fabric of our communities and our relationship to truth. The following link is to an essay by Thomas Friedman: https://www.nytimes.com/.../ai-tech-climate-change.html... I offer this simple truth–– That if bad things are possible to do, there are folks damaged enough to do them. I can offer a number of examples that you'll find throughout history as well as in the present day. I have no doubt that there will be good things coming from AI but we must make certain that young people are engaged in the creation of useful beauty in s...

Today while walking in the Attleboro Springs Audubon Sanctuary, I saw Jacks-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) in bloom. The dramatic striped spathe shelters a spadix on which the flowers are born. This is one of my favorite native flowers — we used to grow them when we lived in the rental share in Concord center — and … Continue reading "Jack-in-the-pulpit"

Earlier this week, I wrote about three different pathways of creativity: inspiration, aspiration and perspiration.  I want to give an example of what I think are the two ends of the spectrum. Let’s start with perspiration, probably the kind of … Continue reading →

Compassion for Campers volunteers with supplies at Willow Crystal Lake. Warm weather is bringing more unhoused people in McHenry who need camping supplies, survival gear, and essential items.   At Compassion for Campers’ last distribution on April 21 we served the most individuals in a year including record numbers of first timers. Compassion for Campers (C4C), the volunteer organization that serves the homeless, unhoused, and underhoused, meets at the Community Resource Days on the first and third Friday of every month from 10 am to 2 pm. C4C is one of over 25 agencies who meet at the Willow Friendship Center, 100 South Main Street, Crystal Lake to serve the unhoused and at-risk community.   Our next distributions are on Friday May ...

For the wonder and inspiration We seek from sun and stars And all the lights of the heavens We light this chalice. – Cynthia Landrum Gaze into the night sky tonight with wonder.

Jennifer Hundley-Batts The miracle of grace is available to us even when it has been left untended. Continue reading "The Uncovering"

  The first ever McHenry County celebration of Juneteenth will be held on historic Woodstock Square on Saturday, June 17 from 3 to 5:30 pm.   Juneteenth—Freedom Day is organized by Gloria Van Hof, a McHenry County Board member,   noted Underground Railroad historian, and long-time activist along with other community leaders.                          Gloria Van Hof, founder and host of Junteenth--Freedom day, McHenry County's first celebration of the event. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date when slaves in Galveston, Texas, who had been cut off from news of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 when the Union took control of the length of the Mississippi River, first heard that they had been freed from an ...

Thanks to all the UU congregations and communities who send in applications for Chalice Lighter Grants!  We had so much interest, and so many great projects, that the Mountain Desert District Board decided to more than double the funds.  We ended up fulfilling grants from 12 congregations/communities totaling almost $63,000

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Heartland Pagan Festival announces last season, FaerieCon apparently ends, witchfinder gets surprise, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: May 1, 2023 at The Wild Hunt.

Yes, this is the same site you’ve come to know and love – full of hymns and other of my personal musings – but with a new look and some new features! The navigation has moved to the top – and once there, you’ll see that the indexes and characteristic searches for hymns have improved. […]

Yes, this is the same site you’ve come to know and love – full of hymns and other of my personal musings – but with a new look and some new features! The navigation has moved to the top – and once there, you’ll see that the indexes and characteristic searches for hymns have improved. […]

Biden promised to be a climate president – yet under his watch, the U.S. continues to be the biggest producer of oil and gas in the world. In the first few years of his term, he approved more lease sales for new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters than Trump. And his administration has approved new oil and gas projects, like the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska and multiple oil and gas export terminals in the Gulf. Global scientists have been abundantly clear – we cannot avoid the very worst impacts of the climate crisis if we allow for any more fossil development. UUs, it’s time to show up!   This June, People vs. Fossil Fuels are mobilizing to turn up the heat and make Biden take real climate action – by end...

Yes, this is the same site you’ve come to know and love – full of hymns and other of my personal musings – but with a new look and some new features! The navigation has moved to the top – and once there, you’ll see that the indexes and characteristic searches for hymns have improved. […]

 I and others have become increasingly concerned about what's called AI or artificial intelligence. Through programs like Chatbot GPT, AI can spew language, writing Shakespearian sonnets faster than you can spell Jackie Robinson. But what you get from the programs is BS. In fact, the more BS that's out there, the easier it becomes to fictionalize reality, and fool the pubic. AI gets even worse when it's creating videos and images intended to distort our understanding of reality. When how-to writers write, our success is based not on being able to convince others to think what we think but to empower others to succeed in what we do, and we dare not lead others astray, as they will test what we've demonstrated in their own hands and haunt...

As a child, I wondered about a lot of things. As a 4-year-old, I wondered how sound got onto an LP record album. I was convinced that if I wrote words on the record, the needle would graze over my letters, and I would be able to hear the word spoken over and over, as … Continue reading Mess

        The King James Bible and the Power of a Dreaming God James Ishmael Ford A bit of history. King James (the sixth of Scotland and first of England) not long crowned, planned a conference for November, 1603, to discuss sundry matters involving the relatively new church of which he was now […]

We have a small deck in the back of our house that is visible through the kitchen windows. We have deck furniture out there. We have two large hanging ‘nuts and seeds’ bird feeders out there. We also have squirrels.  … Continue reading →

National Negro Baseball League founder Rube Foster with his Chicago American Giants. On May 2, 1920, the first game between teams of the brand new National Negro Baseball League (NNL) was played in Indianapolis.   The league was the brainchild of Rube Foster, a pitcher who had been managing Negro teams, semi-pro and professional since 1907. The league was formed that February at a meeting held in a Kansas City YMCA.   The charter teams were the Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Kansas City Monarchs, Indianapolis ABCs, St. Louis Giants, Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos and Chicago Giants.   Foster’s own Chicago American Giants dominated the league in the early years, winning the first four consecutive championships. Blacks had been p...

A Q&A with Annelise Orleck | It felt right, and urgent, to return to the story of “Storming Caesars Palace” in these times, precisely because this political moment feels both so different and so similar to the time when the book was first published in 2005. Back then, our country was still living in the shadow of 9/11 and the militarist backlash that followed.

These are some quickly made triangle boxes. Some will be angled at the top and used without lids as pencil boxes. Some will get lift off lids. They've been glued and the rubber bands are holding parts together as the glue sets. Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.  

Many blessings on this turning of the Wheel! Blessed Samhain! Merry May and Beltaine! Continue reading Merry May Day! at The Wild Hunt.

Cultivating a sense of wonder about the world around us helps us to live with openness, gratitude, and curiosity. What helps you cultivate wonder in your life?

  A French May Day poster from around the turn of the 20th Century. Chicago was a-boil with labor turmoil in 1886.   The burgeoning city had become a major manufacturing center and tens of thousands of immigrants had poured into the city since the Civil War to join displaced American-born farmers and former independent craftsmen in giant factories.   Hours were long , working conditions hard and dangerous , bosses harsh , and pay cuts frequent .   Since the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 tensions had been building.   And so had a labor movement—craft unions loosely organized under a city central labor body, and the Knights of Labor, officially a benevolent society whose national leadership was opposed to strikes.   But unlike the ...

As we enter the month of May, we take up the pathway of creativity. My own experience has taught me that human beings are naturally creative beings, and that we come to our creative moments through three different pathways. Inspiration: … Continue reading →

Grace can appear as an unearned gift out of the mouth of a small child. It can be in words or simply a smile. Such unexpected blessings come without charge and like rain they fall upon the just and the unjust alike. Mercy on the other hand must come from someone with power. If I am to show you mercy, then I clearly have something to offer you that I can chose to give or withhold. Of course love is a form of power, maybe the greatest of them all, but it is not the kind of power we usually […] The post Tender Mercy appeared first on BeyondBelief.

Elyse Welles surveys ancient antecedents of Beltane celebrations from across the cultures descended from the Indo-Europeans. Continue reading Sacred Fire: Beltane’s Indo-European Roots and Multicultural Connections at The Wild Hunt.

Table saws are ill equipped to rip cut 30° joints required for a triangular box because the blade will only tilt to 45°. The solution is to cut with the wood standing up alongside the fence with the blade set at a 60° angle but that's not ideal because as the cut is made there's nothing left to support the wood and it falls down into the blade.  This new jig allows the woodworker to clamp the box part in place so it is carefully carried through the cut. The results are shown in a practice box. Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning lifewise.

as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, April 30, 2023 I have been in Houston almost five years. I have gotten to know the city pretty well, the congregation better, and the state of Texas somewhat. In that time, I have come to appreciate the role that Unitarian Universalism and Unitarian Universalist […] The post Networks of RESISTANCE: A May Day Sermon appeared first on Colin Bossen.

Delivered at High Street Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday, April 30, 2023 The title for this sermon comes from my poem, Screaming at God. You can find that and many more in my recent book, Something Resembling God, now available on Amazon. Do you remember this story during the pandemic? A group of women who […]

SERVICE PARTICIPANTS Mike Adams, Guest Speaker Patrick Webb, Worship Associate Nylea Butler-Moore, Director of Music Aaron Anderson, piano Mike Begnaud, Renae Mitchell, Galen Gisler, Patrick Webb, and Rick Bolton, AV techs WELCOME! New to our church community?  Sign our guestbook and let us know if you’d like to get more connected. If you would like …<p> Resistance Read More »

If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. I recovered from Covid and was getting back into my hiking routine, but then I fell on a trail this week. An easy trail. One I have hiked 30+ times. It isn’t steep or tricky, but I tripped on a rock or a root and went down. No […]

Prayer is a near-universal human practice, something done in virtually all religions. As we approach the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, let’s take a look at the practice of prayer from a modern Pagan perspective.

Walpurgisnacht & the Rites of Spring Today, the 30th of April, and therefore the eve of May 1st is Walpurgisnacht. It’s a holiday, sometimes holy day, observed principally in Northern Europe, Germany and across Scandinavia. For Christians its the feast of St Walburga, an eighth century English born German abbess. Originally a Benedictine nun she […]

“As a community we will build again. And from the pieces we will build something new. There is work that only you can do. We wait for you.” -Julián Jamaica Soto, from “Bring your broken hallelujah here” What do you imagine we’re building together?

National Poetry Month 2023 is drawing to a close and so is this blog’s annual celebration of verse.   I know poetry is not everyone things, but over the years we have developed a small following for our selections.   Most of the time when I start out, I don’t know exactly what shape a new series will take.   This year was a little less international than some although Canadians, Ukrainians, and an Ecuadorian were represented.   We ran heavily to contemporary or near contemporary writers and were pretty balanced between men and women.   Black voices shone, as did Native or First Nation writers and a Latina.   A lot of familiar favorites of the past didn’t make it, but perhaps readers came away with new discoveries.   But I di...

Somehow a copy of The Week: The Best of the U.S. and International Media from June 17, 2022, wound up in our bathroom. In it, there was an obituary of Sophie Freud, granddaughter of Sigmund Freud, and long-time professor of social work at Simmons University in Boston, who died on June 2, 2022, in Lincoln, … Continue reading "Another person I need to learn about"

Karl Seigfried surveys five heavy metal bands with Pagan themes in their music, including Häxan, Ealdor Bealu, and SpellBook. Continue reading New Heavy Music for Pagan Hearts at The Wild Hunt.

Karen Hering On the threshold of change, we need to learn to let go.

Our spiritual ancestors could not imagine a loving God worth worshipping who was not able to forgive even the most egregious evil perpetrated by humanity. Now, I know that many people have a problem imagining this kind of forgiveness being readily available, especially for acts of great evil and people whose lives seem to embody … Continue reading Beyond

Please join us on Sunday (30 April 2023) at 11:00 AM for “To Be Joyful in the Universe is a Brave and Reckless Act” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. The quote referenced in the title is from Molly Fumia and the sermon is from Rev. Jarrell.  The service will feature a couple of new songs from … Continue reading "All Ages Worship (30 April 2023)"

Ken Peterson Memorial Service (29 April 2023) Pride in the Park (30 April 2023 — rescheduled from Saturday due to weather) Building and Grounds Work Day (13 May 2023 — details TBA on our web site) 2023 Pledge Drive — We Need Your Pledge Now

Children and youth will attend the worship service for the first 15-20 minutes and then are dismissed to their classes. We are now discussing personal spiritual growth and how these ideas connect to our Unitarian Universalist faith. Elementary Class:  Toolbox of Faith, Part II — We started the year with Unitarian Universalist identity by exploring … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education Classes — 30 April 2023"

There will be no adult religious education class this Sunday (30 April 2023). Our class will resume on Sunday (7 May 2023) at 9:00 AM. We are sorry to cancel on short notice but the complication of multiple events this weekend and the necessary preparations for those events has prompted this decision. Please join us … Continue reading "No Adult Religious Education Class — 30 April 2023"

All Souls will be participating in the 2023 Pride in the Park event on Sunday (30 April 2023) from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Columbia Park in Shreveport, Louisiana. This event has been rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday due to rainy weather forecasted for Saturday. The setup time for our All Souls booth is … Continue reading "Pride in the Park (30 April 2023)"

Jerry Pendergast reading. The work of Jerry Pendergast, Chicago poet, poetry slam emcee, and contributor to the Revolutionary Poets Brigade Facebook group, has regularly been featured in our National Poetry Month posts.   His work is influenced by jazz, Irish cultural identity, urban observation, and a keen sense of social justice.   Today’s verse is inspired by his Irish roots.                                         Oscar Wilde. If Talk Could Exalt a Nation “We Irish are too Poetic to be poets…We are a nation of brilliant failures. But we are the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Oscar Wilde   If a stanza a river long could sink a battle ship If a run on sentence taking a hearer through the mess u a...

There is a really good chance that My ostomy bag it will not stay Stuck for any length of time to The skin that surrounds my latest stoma Necessitating adhesion with some strong skin tape To keep it from needing to be Replaced to soon With a new one

A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation.   (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) (Click on any photo at the end of this piece to enlarge it)    —o0o— Reginald John Campbell (1867–1956) was a British Congregationalist minister who espoused what became known as the “New Theology” following publication, in 1907, of a highly influential and controversial book with the same name (Chapman & Hall, London, 1907). The “New Theology,” he said, “is Christianity stripped of its mischievous dogmatic accretions” (“New Theology Sermons” Williams & Norgate, London, 1907, p. vii) and, in both his book an...

All Souls will be participating in the 2023 Pride in the Park event on Saturday (29 April 2023) from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Columbia Park in Shreveport, Louisiana. The setup time for our All Souls booth is 9:30 AM on Saturday. Susan Caldwell will bring the canopy, brochures, banner, table, chairs, and giveaway … Continue reading "Pride in the Park (29 April 2023)"

Please join us for a celebration of the life of Ken Peterson this Saturday (29 April 2023) at 3:30 PM at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. There will be a reception and more time for remembrance following this service in the church social hall. Family and friends will gather on Saturday afternoon to remember and … Continue reading "Celebration of the Life of Ken Peterson (Saturday, 29 April 2023)"

Please join us on Saturday (29 April 2023) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. Please note that this group is still meeting via Zoom.  You will need … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (29 April 2023)"

I've made the walnut pulls for the small chests of drawers, and am pleased (as I hope you are) with only having pulls on the top three drawers. Having a pull on each drawer would have looked normal and unsurprising. With finger access to the bottom drawer by simply touching underneath, the fourth pull would have been unnecessary. You are welcome to comment if you think I'm wrong (or right for that matter). The pulls will be glued in place after sanding is complete. Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.

I began to believe that peace goes into the making of the bread as well. By the time I made the first loaf, I knew it with certainty, and I worked that peace and some other magics into the dough as I kneaded it on the counter in the hearth center of my own home. Continue reading Baking Bread with a Kitchen Witch at The Wild Hunt.

In lieu of regular Sunday Service, we will gather together for a potluck brunch to observe Mother’s Day. Please click the link below to RSVP, and let us know what you plan to contribute. Date: Sunday, May 14 Time: 10:30 a.m.   Click here to RSVP     Photo by Leohoho on Unsplash   [ … ] The post Mother’s Day Pot Luck Brunch appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Like many people in the publishing industry, books have been a lifelong love of mine. At a certain point, it dawned on me that books aren’t just these magical things that poof into existence, but that there is a select group of lucky people who get to create them.

      The Dawn of Nichiren BuddhismNamu Myoho Renge Kyo James Ishmael Ford On the 28th day of the fourth lunar month, that would be today, the 28th of April by our reckoning, in the year 1253, the Japanese Tendai Buddhist monk Nichiren Shonin, proclaimed that the Lotus Sutra was the epitome of all […]

This Sunday evening (April 30), farfringe.com will be moving to a new server. The site may be unavailable for a few hours beginning at 9pm Eastern. Which shouldn’t be a problem as none of you should be working then anyway.

“May we remember to inhale the lushness in life knowing that we are a people of beauty.” -from a chalice lighting by Kimberlee Tomzcak Carlson Inhale the lushness of life today

Before Earth Day, Arbor Day was the primary environmental celebration and semi-holiday in the United States .   And for a while it was a very big deal with tens of thousands of volunteers across the country planting and tending trees .   The results were breath taking.   Arbor Day is often credited with re-foresting American cities and towns.   Old 19th Century photographs reveal that many were barren urban wastelands long denuded foliage with buildings jammed together and coming right up to streets and crude sidewalks .   In Chicago, for instance, Daniel Burnham ’ s famous network of grand boulevards which radiated f rom the downtown core piercing the neighborhoods with trees was influenced by the Arbor Day movement.   Later the...

Designing a box often involves small changes along the way as we observe step by step what we've done. Please compare this photo with the one I posted yesterday as it shows a very small but significant change. By reshaping the underside of the bottom drawer, I've taken a boring, straight line and made the whole chest more interesting. Also, I've created a finger space for opening the drawer so that only the top three drawers will require pulls. This morning I'll be making a presentation to the Holiday Island Rotary about the Wisdom of Our Hands. Nine to 10 AM at Grace Lutheran Church. Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.

Editor’s Note: Rev. Jan wrote this in 2016, and it seems to be a beautiful reminder of how resistance itself can have it’s own very important role in our journeys. I wrote this poem in an attempt to describe my … Continue reading →

A Prayer to Widen Our Circle of Care Heart of Compassion, may we learn, day by day, moment by moment, how to widen our circles of care, as we begin with the coil of sweetgrass wrapped around itself in the centre, and build that circle outward, to create a mat,...

—with Paula Chandoha and Mary Rose Muti Paula Chandoha gave a focus talk. Mary Rose Muti introduced two videos of Robin Wall Kimmerer. The first video was a Science Friday interview (29 minutes)  #SciFriBookClub  - Science, Gratitude and  Responsibility with Robin Wall Kimmerer     recorded with a live audience for Science Friday's October 28th 2022,  broadcast. The second video (22 minutes) was from a Bioneers meeting in 2014. Robin Kimmerer - Mishkos Kenomagwen:  The Teachings of Grass | Bioneers

In the Mass Audubon class I’m taking, tonight’s lecture was on birds. We learned about a scientific paper titled, “Urban gulls show similar thermographic and behavioral response to human shouting and conspecific alarm cries” (Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 20 Sept. 2022). Equipment used in this research included a plush Cornish pasty and a child’s … Continue reading "Urban gulls…human shouting…"

—led by Mary Margaret Halsey. We met inside the gate at 11 am on Thursday 20th April and were fortunate in having perfect day for our walk. Our first objective was to locate the gravestone of our past president, Elaine Fisher.  This proved somewhat more difficult than expected, but Catherine finally spotted it.   In 2014 Elaine had given a focus talk on "What Matters to Me and Why". She showed many of her photographs, including the pair "Crossing the Street / Returning".  She chose the first of these images to engrave on her gravestone.  Elaine has now crossed the street never to return.  She added a haiku by Kobayashi Issa (Issa="a cup of tea") one of "the Great Four" haiku masters in Japan.   Entering the cemetery was like step...

Liz Williams covers the English custom of skipping to bring "good luck and guarantee good harvests or catches of fish in the coming year." Continue reading Mass Skipping at The Wild Hunt.

Casa Mambré es un proyecto de Scalabrinianas Misión con Migrantes y Refugiados (SMR) que alberga a muchas personas migrantes y refugiadas en la Ciudad de México. El refugio brinda recursos críticos a los residentes para facilitar su transito e integración en México.

Casa Mambré is a project of Scalabrinianas Mission with Migrants and Refugees (SMR) that hosts many migrants and refugees in Mexico City.