Povey Prattle

Why in the world did I move to Florida? (4) There are three fully accredited four year colleges in Sarasota. NEW COLLEGE was founded in 1961.  After an adventurous and perilous history it became the eleventh college in the State of Florida system in the early 2000’s. It is a Liberal Arts College and is designated as the “Honours College for Florida” -  (its website never spells out what this means).  New College has an enrolment of 800 students. THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA has 47,000 students on five campuses.  Three of those campuses are separately accredited; one of those three is USF Sarasota- Manatee, which boasts 4,200 students in any given year -  many of them being part-timers and commuters. THE RINGLING COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN dates to the early 1930’s. The famous John Ringling was instrumental in its foundation.  Unlike New College and USF Sarasota-Manatee which are public institutions, Ringling is private.   It boas...

Why in the world did I move to Florida?  (3) Some of my friends are fond of saying that they do not live in Florida, but that they live in Sarasota. To be sure, on my first visit to Sarasota it did not seem a bit like the Florida which I had disdained for years.   It didn’t feel as glitzy, frenetic or crowded as the megalopolis areas of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, or Orlando, or Tampa/St. Pete. There is a lot to be said for our city.   We have a lively cultural scene with opera, ballet, symphony and theatre all available (mostly in season), at reasonably affordable prices, and each within fairly easy driving distance. We have some gorgeous beaches.   Sarasota has also done fairly well in providing public parks. We have a first class library system. There are two decent hospitals. We are over-served by physicians, surgeons and lawyers.  We also have some fairly good educational establishments (more about this tomorrow), and a "pretty good" daily newspaper. The cr...

When the Chicago  Daily News  closed, Mike Royko ( a fabulous journalist  jmp )   worked  for its allied morning newspaper, the  Chicago Sun-Times .  In 1984,  Rupert Murdoch , for whom Royko said he would never work, bought the  Sun-Times . Royko commented that:  "no sel f-respecting fish would want to be wrapped in a  Murdoch paper". And with that Royko resigned from the Sun-Times. I suggest that Mike Royko had more integrity in his little finger than former and current British Premiers  ( Blair [Labour] and Cameron [Conservative] ) have in their well fed paunches.

Why in the world did I move to Florida?   Humans with fair skin, red hair, and blue eyes (that’s me) are particularly vulnerable to “Actinic Keratoses” - (rough edged, dry, scaly patches on the skin).   Actinic Keratoses”   are the most common precursor in the development of skin cancer. Back in Massachusetts I would see a Dermatologist about once a year. Upon moving to Florida I upped this frequency to twice a year, and after nearly five and a half years in the sun, I now get checked out three times a year.    How foolish I was to move here!   Folks with my genetic heritage should live in Sweden or Norway ... now there’s a thought! When I saw my Dermatologist last Monday my face and neck were fairly well beaten up.   Come to think of it, this probably happened because I was involved in a lot of out of doors activities when my brother and nephew visited in late May/early June. But don’t blame them.   I was the one who was careless about cove...

Why in the world did I move to Florida?   It’s a regressive State.   Our primitively minded Governor has now declared war on liberal arts education. He believes that the only college or university degrees which should be supported by the taxpayer’s monies are those which lead to jobs or to entrepreneurship. This small minded man has no appreciation of the quality of life. He needs to understand that the good life is not all about jobs.   Essential to that good life is art, music, theatre, poetry, literature, philosophy, historical awareness, dance, and environmental concern (to name but a few of the “essentials”). I am all in favour of jobs and of entrepreneurship.   But God save us from Governor Rick “Tiny Mind” Scott who seems to think that the sole purpose of education is to produce drones. There are many good reasons why I moved to Florida.   I like my adopted State.  But I refuse to accept the Scott doctrine which equates education with vocation...

Tangled roots - tree at lakeside (1) Tangled roots - tree at lakeside 2 Strong vein like roots Roots like strong toes supporting a strong leg Fascinating trunk Same tree - trunk and roots

We have many different Palms in Florida.  They are properly called Palms -  not Palm Trees. The Cabbage (or Sabal) Palm is one of but a few which are indigenous to Florida. Jungle-ish Which way to grow? Cardboard Palm Cabbage Palm (I think) with bark shaved off

Trees in  my neighbourhood Strong winds last night (1)  Strong winds last night (2) Tree blossoming in autumn Live Oak Tree Trunk Spanish Moss (It's not from Spain, nor is it a moss) Sea Grape Tree trunks