Povey Prattle

1 . Parsnips are good. I stir fried some tonight alongside carrots, green beans, mushrooms and red peppers. 2. The magical steroid injection worked. I am more or less pain free from my hip bursitis, and I have been able to take my dog Penne on some good walks. 3. The Episcopal Church in Los Angeles elected two assisting Bishops yesterday and today. Both are women. One is a lesbian in a committed partnership. Way to go! 4. I am preaching tomorrow at All Angels by the Sea Church on Longboat Key, FL. Hence I have been edgy all day. I am finding it more and more difficult to prepare sermons in these days of retirement (I enter into three and a half years of retired life tomorrow). 5. I was walking through a parking lot this afternoon and spotted a car key on the ground. The key had a “Saturn” decal. I picked it up and placed it on a wall where it might be spotted by the person who had lost it. The parking lot led me to a drug store where I purchased a few items. Ju...

 I saw my primary care physician, the wonderful Dr. Kristin Paulus, on Wednesday 2 nd December ’09. She was sure that my intense hip pain was because of bursitis.  I was able to see an Orthopaedic Physician’s Assistant today, and after a physical examination and x-rays that diagnosis was confirmed.  I received a cortisone/steroid injection.  Within a few hours the relief was palpable.  I should be free to resume “normal activities” tomorrow. I will follow up with some “at home” hip exercises, and with a bit of physical therapy.  How lucky I am! First: to be in Sarasota where there is an abundance of first class physicians within a few miles of my home.  I cannot imagine how it would be to live in a rural area where the nearest Doctors are many miles distant. Second :  to be a beneficiary of an American socialistic plan for over 65’s called “Medicare”. Medicare is a decent enough system but it does not cover all medical costs....

There is a market for spray bottles of dog pee. About half an hour ago I was trying to walk outside as I took Penne out for her “before bed pee”. “Trying to walk” is accurate. More about that in a bit. Anyway, I wanted Penne to have a quick pee, so you could have overheard me cajoling her in my most dulcet tones. “Nice pee, nice pee” I repeated at length. But of course canines have to find that exact spot where another dog has recently sprayed. After some time, and at her own sweet pace, Penne found her pee place, either in spite of, or because of my earnest pleas. ‘Twas during this nocturnal peregrination that I wished for a spray bottle of dog pee. I could then have sprayed on my front lawn so that Penne could do her thing without delay, and I could get off my feet . For you see, on Monday morning I awoke with intense pain in my left hip. I had not fallen or injured myself - the pain simply developed overnight. After 60 hours the pain has not diminished. Walking i...

My ‘phone rang at 3:00 a.m. today.  I picked it up after one ring. On the other end was a woman from Fitchburg, MA whom I’ve not seen for nearly 30 years.  She had an odd question.  “How do you cook cabbage? ” she asked.   I offered two suggestions – steaming or stir-frying. She called again a few minutes later. Again I picked up my ‘phone after a single ring. She had another question. “Now that I have cooked the cabbage, how do I eat it?” I could not comprehend why she was calling me about cabbage in the middle of the night The ‘phone rang for yet a third time.  This third call woke me up.  Awakened I realised that I had been simply dreaming about former parishioners, and cabbages. What I’d been hearing in that half-sleepy state was my senior cat Ada. She was yowling her loud yowl which could indeed, in a dream, sound like a ringing ‘phone. I giggled myself back to sleep. Fortunately I remembered  all this today and "wondered" about...

I am a bit under the weather.  Therefore I am too tired to blog today

I often have too much on my mind. This “too much” is not about duties, activities, or responsibilities. I can balance those very well. My “too much” has to do with my thoughts about concepts, ideas, theologies, politics etc. These thoughts race around my mind like an unstoppable merry-go-round/carousel. Today’s carousel has included: 1. the vote in Switzerland about Minarets. 2. the huge gulf in the ways that Christians in Massachusetts and Uganda think about gay and lesbian people. 3. the ways in which hymns shape our faith – especially a contrast between the wordiness of Episcopal church hymns, and the simplistic nature of what is called “praise music”. Both are quite crummy. 4. the “circling” of the wagons of races, classes, religions and cultures in the face of what we call “globalisation”. “Stop the world, I want to get off!”  I cannot cope with this merry-go-round of my mind. But I can cope with simpler matters – especially good food. So I will rel...