Povey Prattle

                FOOLS' GOLD IN MASSACHUSETTS. https://patch.com/massachusetts/somerville/encore-boston-harbor-casino-verge-historic-opening ( Hotel Rooms at over $600 per night trump the need for affordable housing).

My friends Patrick and Bill went off this morning to the breeder's home in Brandon, FL to get their new pal. MAX All black miniature Schnauzer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I knew when they would be out of town so I decorated their mailbox to greet them on their return. Pat and Bill were highly amused.

Sacred to the memory of my brother Stephen who died on this date in 2016. Loving memories of Steve, and tender thoughts for his wife Angela, their children Lee and Nicola, and their grandchildren, Reece, Ebony, Luna, Thea, and Ryan.

I remember the days when there were actors, poets, and authors. A step below them there were actresses, poetesses, and authoresses.  The norm was presumed to be male.  The unusual and inferior were deemed to be female,  (remember George Elliot?) Female composers had been relegated to the little league of music.  The compositions of Amy Beech, Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Hildegard of Bingen &c  were almost never played or heard. The great orchestras of the world were all male, as were their conductors.  The famed English Conductor Sir Thomas Beecham was crudely sexist when a woman cellist joined the ranks of his orchestra.  (And the male players tittered and giggled). True enough there were celebrated female dancers and singers.  Of course - women can dance and sing! But is that all? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earlier this week my local  public radio music stat...

Dannie Abse 1923-2014 A proud Welshman.  A  faithful Jew. A fine physician.  A wonderful poet. I am the fortunate owner of a book of his poems -  "Welsh Retropective" - Poetry Wales Press Ltd,1997 His poem "Case History" moves my soul 'Most Welshmen are worthless,/an inferior breed, doctor.'/ He did not know I was Welsh./ Then he praised the architects/of the German death-camps --/ did not know I was a Jew./ He called liberals, 'White blacks',/ and continued to invent curses. When I palpated his liver/ I felt the soft liver of Goering;/ when I lifted my stethoscope/ I heard the heartbeats of Himmler;/when I read his encephalograph/ I thought, 'Sieg heil, mein Fuhrer.' In the clinic's dispensary/red berry of black bryony,/ cowbane, deadly nightshade, deathcap./ Yet I prescribed for him/ as if he were my brother. Later that night I must have slept/ on my arm:/ momentarily my right hand lost it...

By some impulse which I did not question I took Zion on our second morning walk on June 18th 2019, not to Bayfront Park,  but around the pond at the neighbouring Glen Oaks Manor. It was a good impulse. I encountered two women who I've not seen for weeks. First I met Bobby (Barbara) M.   She walks out with great vigour each morning. Although I do not know her well  I began to admire her a few years ago when  she was taking care of her invalided husband Ed M., (now deceased).   She employed the same cheerful vigour as she pushed his wheel chair on the walk way around the pond.  He always wore a wonderful (even beatific) smile. So good to see Bobby this morning (especially as she is about to take a break from SRQ in Michigan). Then there was Rose-Marie Z.    We haven't seen each other in weeks.    She is a spry, dry-humoured, very beautiful, eighty-something woman of German background. Her husband Fred lives in a local n...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've previously written about the Jehovah's Witnesses who sit quietly in Arlington Park, Sarasota (and other places), ready to have a conversation with those passers-by who would like to so do.  Yesterday afternoon I came across two J.W.  teen-aged lads who sat on a bench in the summer heat -  attired nattily in long sleeved shirts with ties, dress pant, and dress shoes. I paused and greeted them. I asked them which Kingdom Hall they attend, and was given a warm invitation to that Hall. I explained that as a retired Christian Pastor I would be unlikely to accept that invitation.  Then I added "but I am deeply depressed about the vicious persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, and am very disturbed that not one main line Church ( to my knowledge) has protested this". Zion and I walked on.  At the other side of the pond I met two other teen witnesses who were pa...

With Cheddar,  and Morbier.

A financial website I use requires me to answer a "secret question" before I can gain access. I have several options. One of the choices is "What is your favourite flower?" The answer I entered when I registered is LUPIN. It's not necessarily my favourite, but it was the first I learned to identify when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Mum struggled to have a flower garden in our back garden (yard in the U.S.A), but it was hard work in a small west facing area which was also a play area for the children. But one or two lupines defied the odds, and they fascinated me ( at aged 4 ?) Maybe I was fascinated by the unusual shape of the blossoms, or of the unusual leaves,  (who knows the mind of a four year old?)  But I am still fascinated by Lupines (which do not flourish in the semi-tropical climate of  South West Florida). Wild Lupines in California.  I have been fortunate enough to see these in full bloom alongside the highway. Lupines in Cal...