Povey Prattle

I fib.  I wasn't in Europe but in Bradenton, FL on Old Main St. My friend Ashley and I (with Zion) took a stroll on Bradenton's RIVER WALK, then stopped by to a Breakfast/Lunch joint on Old Main St. This Cafe is next door to an Alleyway ( all the best Cities have Alleyways) which the City (or County) allows them to use as outdoor dining space. This was the view from the Alleyway.  We could have been in Europe! Whilst in that European frame of mind, Sr. Mochael Poupee (as he promised yesterday)  set about making the Spanish originated soup "Gazpacho" (eaten cold)  this afternoon. It's a labour intensive task, with much peeling, de-seeding, and chopping of cucumbers and tomatoes etc. The effort was worthwhile. Mochael Poupee's home made Gazpacho. I had never seen, heard of, or tasted Gazpacho until I moved to Florida in 2006. I learned about it by reading a memoir about Ybor City (Tampa) and the Columbia restaurant. Even though there i...

I had a call from my Podiatrists' Office today to remind me of an appointment next Monday. I missed the call, so it went to voice mail.  I am sure that the receptionist called me Mr. Povey, but the Voicemail to Text app. got it wrong. The text version called me Mr. Poupee. In the meantime my friend Ashley lost all her stored 'phone numbers, so she had to re-enter them.  By mistake she entered my first name as Mochael. Henceforth I should be referred to as Mochael Poupee. Please use this when you are mailing me an envelope full of crisp $50 bills, so that I won't think that it is junk mail. Mochael Poupee   is cooking or assembling a ton of food to relieve the boredom of these COVID 19 days. Here is today's creation. Mochael Poupee's  famous Waldorf Salad, with apples, raisins, dried cranberries, and pecans.  I used low fat Greek yogurt instead of Mayonnaise.   Watch this space tomorrow for a photo' of  ...

This beautiful boy has two meals every day. One at 5:30 a.m.; another at 5:00 p.m. We call them both "breakfast" so that he (or I) do not get confused by words. When Z has has eaten his morning or evening breakfast he always seeks me out,  as if to say "thank you". Here he is, visiting me to say thank you after this evening's breakfast, 9th July 2020. So utterly gorgeous

Well worth listening to his 45 minute interview on the WBUR programme "On Point". It's the July 7th programme Grief At A Distance: How Coronavirus Has Changed The Way We Mourn https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510053/on-point

Bayfront Park, Sarasota, FL, between 6:30 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday 7th July 2020.

I registered to vote in Massachusetts the day after I became an American Citizen, way back in 1984. I voted in every election there between 1984 and 2006, save for one Primary election vote which I somehow missed. Way back then voting by mail (or absentee voting) was unusual. In Massachusetts it was necessary to request an absentee ballot (for good reason). at each and every election. I did so but once when I was to be in the U.K. on Election Day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I moved to Florida in June 2006.  I had been here for just a week or two when I registered to vote here. I have prided myself by voting  in person each and every time.  I love lining up with my neighbours at my local voting precinct. BUT THIS YEAR seems different. In Florida we have a Primary election on August 18th; and the General election on November 3rd. We also have rampant COVID 19 infections. With COVID 19 in min...

From my friend the Revd Dr. Wesley Wasdyke (He had parallel careers: as  an Episcopal Priest and as an Anesthetist) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An easy way to understand White Privilege in the simplest terms: 400 years ago white people brought black people over here and enslaved them. And sold them. And treated them as less than human. For 250 years. While white men built the country and created its laws and its systems of government. While 10, 15 generations of white families got to grow and flourish and make choices that could make their lives better. And then 150 years ago white people "freed" black people from slavery. But then angry white people created laws that made it impossible for them to vote. Or to own land. Or to have the same rights as white people. And even erected monuments glorifying people who actively had fought to keep them enslaved. All while another 5, 10 generations of white families got to grow and accumulate wealth and gain land and get an education. And then 60 years ago we made it "legal" for black people to vote, and to be "free" from discrimination. But angry w...