Waking up, and page for tiny links

Well, I didn’t think it would be three years before I would write here again. Most of my writing (about Universalism and church administration) is at revscottwells.com, but honestly I’ve not said much there either. Did the pandemic do that much to me? The collapse of Unitarian Universalist institutions and churches generally? Middle age? Perhaps.… Continue reading Waking up, and page for tiny links

Preparing for emergencies: your plans?

It’s hard not to look at the suffering following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria plus the earthquakes in Mexico and not have deep empathy for those people suffering. (Indeed, you may be one of them.) As each disaster happened I wondered, “what would I do to prepare?” and drew on my Gulf Coast childhood memories… Continue reading Preparing for emergencies: your plans?

Importing old articles from LowPlastic.com

It has been three years since I’ve added anything to my plastic-use reduction blog, LowPlastic.com, and the domain expires today. I’ve woved the old content to here and will tagging it — if I can — “low plastic.” If I write anything else on the subject, it will be there.

Preserving Unitarian Universalism

So, I’m waiting for Lucky Dog to come on this morning, with CBS This Morning (which comes on just before) on in the background so I don’t miss it. There was a segment about digitizing The Spirit of St. Louis and other Smithsonian-held artifacts through 3-D scanning. Even President Obama got the treatment, like President… Continue reading Preserving Unitarian Universalism

Appreciating the City Weekend

A pause from my thread on re-orienting Unitarian Universalist approaches to social engagement to note Esperanto, and two things it can offer us. Today is Zamenhof Day, the birthday of L. L. Zamenhof, Esperanto’s founder. (As featured on the UUA’s Wall of December Holidays.) The first is a cautionary tale. I like Esperanto, the world’s… Continue reading Appreciating the City Weekend

R&E Newsweekly: making use of church buildings in decline

This segment, from this week’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, pushes one my buttons: the experience that churches with just enough space are the ones that tend to survive. A recession following a big building campaign, or a congregation with unaffordable maintainance costs often leads to closure. That, and once a religious building is lost in… Continue reading R&E Newsweekly: making use of church buildings in decline

Solutions for the ice age at the UUA

So, I understand that the HVAC systems at 24 Farnsworth Street, the new headquarters building of the Unitarian Universalist Association, aren’t quite callibrated or what-have-you and some of the staff are cold. Really cold. This happens. As a large, well-insulated person, I tend to cope with a frosty office better than most, but I hate… Continue reading Solutions for the ice age at the UUA

Heating your home

Not so theological, but as we approach winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s nice to know we have options to be warm, even if fuel isn’t as cheap (or undervalued) as it has been. Here’s are two articles that draw on old knowledge, both from Low Tech Magazine. “Insulation: first the body, then the home”… Continue reading Heating your home