Povey Prattle

Life is good, but I have no blog entry for today

Many towns and cities in the U.S.A. have a branch of “Whole Foods Market”.     Whole Foods is an upscale supermarket where “organic” ( whatever that means! ) fruits, vegetables and meats are readily available. Prices are high at Whole Foods.   But the chain attracts a ready crowd of middle class, socially conscious, and health conscious shoppers.   You will never find a branch of Whole Foods in the ghetto, or in a working class neighbourhood. I was at Whole Foods today in search of some Fava (Broad) Beans which the store carries from time to time. I was out of luck for beans today, but since I was in the Market, I bought some Honeycrisp apples, and a hunk of my favourite French cheese (Morbiere). They are my middle class luxuries. I dutifully carried a cloth bag, knowing that the princely sum of 10 cents would be taken off my bill as my “reward” for not using a store bag. The bright young clerk/cashier asked me if I would forgo my 10c rebate, and instead allo...

On my first full day in Quito (before I realised that the National Police were attempting a coup against the President) I took a cab to the base of the “Teleferico” (Cable Car).   From that base I rode the Cable Car up “Cruz Loma” to its summit (at close to 14,000’ above sea level). There was a trail which led even higher, so I began to walk up it. I fell in with a young woman who was also taking the upward trail.   Her name was Olivia.   I discovered that she was originally from the Czech Republic, but now lived in Los Angeles, USA.   We enjoyed an amiable chat and we decided to ascend the trail together.  After about 200 yards of upward trail I became very short of breath and energy.   So I bad farewell to Olivia and decided to walk back down to the Cable Car station. As I walked down I encountered a woman named Simone who asked “do you speak English?” I replied “I am English”. With a sigh of relief Simone said “I am so worried about my daughte...

My cousin Janet (from Bristol, U.K.) will have dinner together this evening afore going to the Theatre. She visits Longboat Key every year. This means that we’ve seen each other more often in the past five years than in the fifteen which preceded them. The musical “Bonnie and Clyde” begins at 8:00 a.m. which is my usual bedtime. So I am posting this blog very early today. My car is in the auto-body shop. I’ve had a couple of scrapes which need repair. No other vehicle was involved in the scrapes. But you know, those metal posts (often painted yellow) which are there to prevent drivers doing damage to shop windows etc, will persist in sliding themselves against my car door. The auto-body shop has a deal with Hertz car rentals whereby customers can rent a car for $30 per days whilst their own vehicles are being fixed. Business must have been slow for the body shop for they offered to pay half. So I have a bright red Chevy Aveo for three days. It’s got a nippy enough engine ...

Our local 'bus service - the improbably named SCAT (Sarasota County Area Transit) - provides benches at a few of the 'bus stops. Some are crummy, and in great need of renovation or replacement. Some are painted in a simple green. Some are modern - made of metal, and utterly unattractive. But a few of them are interestingly painted. Add caption <

Regular readers of this blog will remember tales of my “neighbour from hell”.  She and I share a driveway.  Our car ports are side-by-side, with no dividing wall. She is a very angry and hostile woman.  She has cursed me out on many occasions.  She has called me an “s.o.b”; a “m-f”; a “white m.f.” – and many other nasty things. I sometimes wonder if she is mentally ill, or if she is a problem drinker.   The there are days on which I think that she is simply mean and nasty. This “neighbour from hell” has, from time to time, engaged various “handymen”.   I have noted that after a week or so of work, she would yell and scream at these folk. It’s not that I am nosy - but I have been unable escape this “yelling and screaming”.  She yells and screams from within her home, and I hear it from inside mine. I heard it again last week.  I could not miss it as she yelled and screamed at a “30-something” young man, who had been doing some work in...

Ted Copland, the Rector of my parish (St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key here in Florida) was away today.   He is at a well deserved retreat. The Assistant Rector, Andrea Taylor was up-front for the 8:00 and 10:00 Eucharists.   I offered my services to lead the 9:00 a.m. Bible Study - so that Andrea (Andie) would not be over-burdened.   Ted and Andie gladly accepted that offer. It made good sense to me to attend the earlier (8:00 a.m.) service before facilitating the 9:00 a.m. Bible Study. At the early service “T.M”, a “forty-something” lawyer, spoke at the “Minute for Ministry” spot which is a regular feature of life at the services at St. B’s.    It’s a time at which a lay-leader gives a pep-talk about some up-coming parish activity. “T.M” related that he had initially been dragged into Church by his wife.   He went on to speak about his involvement in a parish sponsored event at which some 20 or so Boniface Teens helped to fix up homes in a Roches...