Povey Prattle

9:00 a.m. Friday 7th September. Martyn, Sam, Toby and I will be en route to Miami in just a few minutes. There we’ll board the “Norwegian Star” for a cruise to the Bahamas (and back!) Kayaking, parasailing, water park day are all part of the deal. We should be at home in SRQ mid afternoon, Monday 10th September.

Yesterday I took Martyn, Sam and Jay out to the lovely Myakka River State Park . I drove with considerable confidence to the north gate of the park, forgetting that it is open only on holidays. With even more confidence I drove on, certain that I would find a north south road which would take us down to State Rd 72 and back to the main entrance of the park. We drove and drove, and drove on one of those rural Sarasota County roads which are as straight as an arrow, and have no turnings. Following my nose got me nowhere, so in due course I did that most un-male of things, I asked for directions. We were only about 30 miles to the east and north of the park! So a journey which should have taken about 25/30 minutes lasted for1 hr 40 m.  My guests saw more of rural Florida than they had bargained for. At the State Park we enjoyed some good sandwiches at the little cafe, and then the three visitors took the air-boat ride around the lovely semi-wild lake, enjoying the fauna,...

My brother Martyn (R), my nephew Sam (L) and Sam's pal Toby (C) arrived (from England) at SRQ tonight,at about 7:00 p.m.. They will be here for a couple of weeks. Their U.S. Airways flight was delayed for almost an hour at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (N.C.)  because......... ......Air Force One was there for the Democratic Party Convention. Who'd have thunk that when we planned this vacation. We go forward for two weeks of great fun and adventure.

I stopped by my local convenience store this morning.  It’s a place at which most of the employees know me.  That’s cool in this semi-anonymous world. My wee purchases amounted to $8.73. I tendered a ten dollar bill, and the clerk/assistant rendered me $1.27 in change, which I shoved into a pocket in my khaki shorts, rather than into my billfold. When I got home I emptied my pocket onto my hall table. A bit later I looked at this money.  I saw not a dollar bill and change, but a ten dollar bill and change.  This was too much, for I knew that I had spent only $8.73 using a ten dollar bill, and that my “change” should have been no more than $1.73. So I raced back to the convenience store.  The clerk/assistant who had waited on me was still at work. I hastened to tell her that she had given me too much change. She already knew this, and had “chased after me” (to no avail) as I had left the store . She was “tickled pink” that I had discovered her m...

Last Wednesday I was at one of the St. Boniface Church “House Church” events.  I was in awe as our Assistant Priest Andi Taylor unfolded her hand made model of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. The model included a depiction of the Garden Tomb in which (according to the Gospels) Jesus’ dead body was laid. Suddenly I remembered an old song -  I am not sure if it is a “Gospel Song” or  a “Spiritual”..It starts with the words “They crucified my Saviour”. I looked it up on You Tube. There I found a rendition from (of all places), Muscat, in the Sultanate of Oman. In that Sultanate there is a Christian Church. (Yes indeed, there is religious freedom in some Islamic States). The Muscat Church is of Indian origin. Let your mind be boggled!  There is a Christian Church with mostly Indian membership in a Muslim Sultanate. That Indian/Christian Church has a male voice choir which offers a fabulous version of “They crucified my Saviour”. Enjoy this video, ...