On this day in 1909 Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22 year old Vassar grad and now housewife living in Hackensack, New Jersey embarked on an automobile trip. She left from New York City with three companions, two older sisters-in-law and a woman friend. She was the only one of them who could drive. Fifty-nine days later when they arrived in San Francisco, she became the first woman to drive across the continent. Her adventures were recorded in a memoir Veil,... Read more

WILD KINGDOM A Reflection on Living With Pets A Sermon byJames Ishmael Ford 8 June 2008First Unitarian SocietyWest Newton, Massachusetts Text Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord, All praise is Yours, all glory, honor and blessings. To you alone, Most High, do they belong; no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name. We praise You, Lord, for all Your creatures, especially for Brother Sun, who is the day through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant... Read more

I’ve stumbled upon this telling of a Mulla Nasrudin story several times recently. Seems to be in the air. As this is Sunday and I’m getting ready to go off and deliver a much less interesting sermon, thought I’d share the Mulla’s sermon here… One day the villagers thought they would play a joke on Nasrudin. As he was supposed to be a holy man of some ineffable sort, they went to him and asked him to preach a sermon... Read more

Chief Sealth, better known as Chief Seattle, a leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish nations died on this day in 1866. Wikipedia features an interesting essay outlining the history the famous speech the chief never actually gave. Now, if you’ve never read it, it’s still pretty good even knowing its real history, although the purple seems a bit less forgivable. While all the other links below are part of the original article, I added in a link in the final... Read more

Let’s see… Workers are here at the house doing various things, at this point all fairly small. We can actually see the broad outlines of an end to the project. “Pods” are due within a couple of hours which will then be loaded tomorrow. Jan is furiously packing. Auntie is fluctuating between packing and a migraine. (no doubt connected to the upheaval within which we’re caught up…) In the meantime (except for stealing this moment to say hi to all... Read more

I have not felt such hope for this nation in many years. It has been forty years since Bobby’s death, a dream deferred too long. I feel my blood coursing through my body. I feel emotions stirring dormant so long I thought they had died. I really believe something amazing is happening. Obama/Clinton for President 2008! Read more

A deep chesty bawl echoes from rimrock to rimrock, rolls down the mountain, and fades into the far blackness of the night. It is an outburst of wild defiant sorrow, and of contempt for all the adversities of the world. Every living thing (and perhaps many a dead one as well) pays heed to that call. To the deer it is a reminder of the way of all flesh, to the pine a forecast of midnight scuffles and of blood... Read more

Coming, going, the waterbirdsdon’t leave a trace,don’t follow a path. Eihei Dogen (translated by Stephen Mitchell) Read more

Yes We Can Read more

Norbert Capek was born in Bohemia (today the Czech Republic) on this day in 1870. Raised within the Roman Catholic church as an adult he became a Baptist minister. Before many years passed his expansive faith led him to Unitarianism. Capek was a central leader of the tiny but vital Czech Unitarian movement. He opposed the rise of fascism and was interned at Dachau where he was executed in 1942. Capek developed a spring flower festival which, now known as... Read more