Povey Prattle

January 6th  -  "Little Christmas" in some Christian traditions -  the end of the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Many Christians observe it with regard to the story in the gospel according to Matthew when the wise men  (sometimes called the Magi) allegedly presented gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to to the young child Jesus. These days it is called the Feast of the Epiphany.  It happens to fall on a Sunday this year.  ( "Epiphany"  many of us know that word as referring to those  experiences of clarity about someone, some thing, some experience, some poem etc. which hitherto had been murky or unclear), In former times the Church of England calendar called it "The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles" on the basis of a belief that the wise men were Gentiles.   Matthew does not specify that there were three of them -  but they became "The Three Wise Men" on the basis that t...

They were having a lively and  animated conversation, the two woman with their dogs at Arlington Park this morning. One of the dogs was a magnificent Great Dane. They were blocking the pathway so I bypassed them by walking through a wooded area. I was walking clock wise on the half mile loop.  The Great Dane and his owner were walking anti clockwise.  Came an open grassy area and all unbeknown to us the Great Dane was fixated on Zion, some three hundred yards away. Then another wooded area leading to yet another open area and there was the Great Dane walking counter clockwise, his eyes fixed on Zion as we walked clockwise. We inevitably came near to each other.  The owner of the Great Dane asked if the two dogs could go face to face.  Of course we could. The Great Dane's tail was all a-wagging, enough to cause a sand storm. He was drooling a-plenty! The owner said  "my dog has been fixated on your dog since first we p...

I recently read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.  As the blurb on the cover of the paperback edition states, it is indeed "A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption". It is the story of Louis Zamperini a teenage delinquent, an Olympic athlete, a WWII airman in what was then the U.S. Army Air Force, a survivor of forty seven days adrift on a raft in the Pacific, a prisoner of the Japanese in hellish conditions - being subjected to cruelty beyond belief, and post war sufferer from what we know call P.T.S.D. until his conversion to Christ at an early Billy Graham Crusade, leading to Zamperini's own crusade for justice and Christian reconciliation. It's not my usual kind of book.  The accounts of life in Japanese POW camps are so ghastly that I could scarcely read more than three or four pages each day. But despite that I recommend the book and its ultimate story of redemption and reconciliation. Be prepared to ...

Call me Israel The joys of my daily walks with Mr. Z. in Sarasota's Arlington Park include the meetings and greetings I have with people of many ages (small children in baby strollers through old farts of my generation). Most are white skinned like I, but it's also great to encounter brown and black skinned walkers - unusual in de-facto segregated Sarasota. I walk with hope in my heart and a smile on my face, looking for other walkers who are also filled with hope and smiles. That's how I came across Israel, a young man with a ready smile,  (yes Israel is his first name). He and I have two things in common:  - we both smile a lot; we are both mono-lingual. My best guess is that Israel is about 17/18 years old. Despite our language barrier I have learned that he is from Guatemala and that he has a job in a Sarasota restaurant (probably as a dish washer). My heart has gone out to this young man.  I wonder "did he walk through Mexico to reach the U.S.A.?...

We walked at Sarasota's Bayfront Park soon after 7:00 a.m. on New Year's Day. I so much like misty mornings. There is a mast of a sunken yacht leaning at an angle in the middle of the photo'.  The orange netting was for crowd control on New Year's Eve.  Early morning walkers had trampled it a bit. Zion looked at it, then took one delightful jump -  a steeplechase dog! A little pink in the cloud, but the condo buildings are scarcely visible.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is how the bay front looked on New Year's Eve  Photo' by local T.V. news, posted by my friend Barbara to her Face Book Page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zion and I left Bay Front Park  and drove immediately to Arlington Park for a walk there.  (We are overachievers!)  This sign was posted in many places. Maybe the owner should look near...

This beautiful photograph was posted by my very dear friends Derrick Jackson and Dr. Michelle Holmes for the New Year.   We grew to love and respect each other in Cambridge, MA 2000-2006. It is my honour to share it with you. Michelle is a breast cancer researcher at Harvard Medical School, a valued truth-teller, and an Appalachian Trail walker. Derrick is a storied newspaper columnist, a skilled photographer -   I have four of his signed and framed photo's on my walls -    (1) Nelson Mandela receiving an honorary Doctorate at Harvard;. (2) Barack Obama in Chicago the night he was elected President when  we had hope, and a truth telling future Chief Executive, (3) Half Dome at Yosemite (4)  A red shouldered Hawk taken at Myakka River State Park when Derrick visited me in SRQ Derrick is also the photographer for the restoration of Puffins to a Maine Island. ttps://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300204810/project-puffi...

Thanks to the person who posted this on my Face Book time line.