Povey Prattle

1. On Friday 11th January 2013 at about 4:15 p.m. I was sitting on my Lanai when I saw a huge cloud of thick black smoke arising from a street across the pond.  This was followed by a few wee explosions. Then the Fire Trucks arrived with a great hullaballoo, and soon the smoke was replaced with steam. I investigated the scene this morning. All I could see was a lot of mud, and some shards of broken glass in the middle of a street.  There were no signs of damage to any of the condominium units. Best guess is that a car had caught on fire. 2. Our local “Goodwill” store (charity shop in the U.K.) was utterly mobbed when I went there this afternoon. It was hard to find a parking space, and once inside the store I encountered long lines at the check-outs. The “big box” stores would have been envious. Some of this may have to do with the economic recession which has scarcely improved since 2008. And some of it may be because folks of all classes know that they can f...

“Bidies-in” :   a couple who are living together without the benefits of marriage.  (Sounds much sweeter than “shacked-up”) “Moiety”:  a half, or a portion, e.g. “She ate a moiety of the delicious apple pie which was offered for dessert”. SOURCE:   “The Importance Of Being Seven” – the latest novel in Alexander McCall Smith’s “44 Scotland Street” series., which are set in Edinburgh.

When I grew up my Mum would add turnips to the lamb or beef stews which she often made for Saturday lunch in the winter months. I was not impressed!  Nor did I care for the parsnips which she added to those stews. In recent, (say the last twenty) years I have grown to like parsnips. But what about turnips?:  Are they worthy of praise?. My good pal Ben gave me some very small turnips the other day. I peeled, sliced and boiled them and then I sautéed them in a wee bit of olive oil. Oh my goodness, they were delicious. They were so good that they did not need even the tiniest bit of seasoning. YEAH FOR TURNIPS! --------------------------------------------------------------- This morning I spent about 45 minutes with my Sarasota lawyer to make sure that all my records and wishes were up to date. This was in anticipation of my 2013 - Jan 26th –  Feb 10th -  visit to Vietnam: - it was a sort of “belt and braces” (“belt and suspenders”)  precaution...

Ly May Chan, one of the women who leads the Ta Phin village, Sapa Vietnam (where I will visit next month) writes as follows: “I have worked with outside organizations to educate the villagers about the problem of visiting paedophiles. The villagers are clear about this risk. Child molesters are not tolerated.” What a tragedy  that at a woman leader in rural Vietnam has to address this matter. She has to do so because of the legacies of: 1. Colonialism. 2. Racism (which considers Asian children to be of lesser worth than our own kids). 3. A depraved, evil, and perverse understanding of human relationships, and of human sexuality, on the part of (mostly) western males. 4. (Tangentially) – the extreme poverty of large families in South East Asian communities. What wisdom , honesty and courage Ly May Chan possesses.

Ta Phin village, Sapa Vietnam Written by a villager, Ly May Chan. "My name is Ly May Chan and I want to welcome you to our village. Our people are working together independently to create a place of cultural tourism where the visitor can learn about our cultures and people, the way we live without being troubled by money making travel agents." "We want visitors to stay with us in our homes. We have set up comfortable but simple beds in separate rooms. Please come and eat with us and join us in our everyday life." "Also we can lead you on tours around our village, explaining everything about how we live. If you want to stay a little longer with us you can work alongside us, teaching English, maybe work in the fields or help decorate our cultural house so we can give more information to visitors about our culture." Ta Phin is a picturesque thirty minute drive North of Sapa. Set within a valley with a towering mountain peak at one end, this vill...

I was at St. Boniface Church this morning for only the second time since August 2012. I was there for two reasons: 1. To fill in some time on a day when I had no appointments on my calendar.  “Better to go to Church”, I thought, “than to spend a whole day alone” . (Not everyone attends Church for reasons of faith or religion!) 2. Because my friend Jack Chrisman was the preacher. You will remember that Jack was my guest on New Year’s Day, together with Donna Chrisman, and our mutual friend Muriel Quinn.  Indeed I sat in a pew with Donna and Muriel at today’s 11:15 a.m. service. St. Boniface Church is more or less “in the round”.  Thus it is possible to look at the altar, the pulpit, the choir – and at other attendees. Across the way from me sat a man in a clerical collar, with a woman who I guessed was his wife, and a young man who I figured was their son (he looked like the woman). I thought “I know this man, his face looks so familiar”. I pondered: “had ...