Povey Prattle

  I desperately need help.  This is why. I went to our local gem of a restaurant today to pick up "take away" comestibles. The place is on North Beneva .  The food is superb. I was in search of a steak quesadilla; half for me and half for my friend Jack C. who loves them. At Reyna's my mind and my tongue parted ways. I ordered a "Steak Taqueria" . The server looked confused and again  asked me what I wanted, I repeated, "a Steak Taqueria". She asked  "a Steak Taco?"   I looked at the wall mounted menu, and the light dawned. The cafe is a Taqueria . What I wanted was a Steak Quesadilla ! Dear ones, have pity on me!   (and giggle a bit) But rejoice that I live "just around the corner"  from Reyna's Taqueria where the food is always superb; and the staff members are adept when faced with old coots such as I.

Leftovers Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch today, and enough for tomorrow too.  It gets better every day (but not for ever!) A lovely story A former St. James's, Cambridge, MA parishioner is the single mother of an adopted son; who is now about eight or nine years old. Although it was just the two of them, she set a lovely table with flowers and candles for their Thanksgiving Dinner, with a great feast to boot.  No eating off T.V. trays for them. After dinner the young boy said "Mom, this was the best Thanksgiving ever". He meant every word. What a wonderful response from a child to his Mom. What a wonderful gift from a Mom to her son.  She has given him a lifelong memory of blessing. "Putting on the Ritz" for a young son. WONDERFUL! The First Covid 19 Thanksgiving. I have heard from so very many Face Book friends that their 2020 Thanksgiving meals , perhaps with just two people (partners), even  sans their beloved children;  and certainly without a crowd o...

  Grateful hearts.  Happy but low key celebrations; with sadness for those who have perished in the pandemic. Remembering a better translation of scripture  "To give thanks to God IN all things"    rather than FOR all things. Good fellowship and good foods with my friends the Chrismans.  We each ate an "elegant sufficiency" with no will or desire to overeat. The Festal Plate The Bird My hosts:  Ashley (Chrisman) Lloyd; Donna Chrisman; Jack Chrisman. =================================================================== Ashley cooked the feast; Donna set an elegant table;  Jack said the grace;  and I brought my semi-famous mashed potatoes ; and my very famous Zion.                

  No huge family gatherings for those of us who are wise in these COVID 19 days. But there is always the phone, and face time. Glory hallelujah, I had two long and wonderful 'phone calls with three dear older friends today.  One lives alone  in Lenox  MA.  Two, a couple, live in Nashua N.H. Wonderful!  Better than Turkey!  (Most meats are better than Turkey). Thanksgiving will be    unusual this year. 'Phone conversations with dearest friends this COVID year will top every ounce of turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean  casseroles etc; and even pumpkin or pecan pie. Trust me.  

  Inspired by the example of my friends Gordon and John I decided that it was time for a second COVID 19 test.  (The first was at least ten weeks ago - and the Virus is now rampant in Florida, thanks to Governor Ron DeathSantis). Yesterday morning I took myself to a testing site at the Robert Taylor Community Complex in north Sarasota.  The parking lot was almost full.  There were at least 75 people in line.  It was obviously unwise to leave Zion in the car for what might have been an hour or so. Off we went to the University Town Centre ( a ghastly place with a huge mall, and satellite plazas). Uh oh!  My computer search via Bing hadn't told me that the testing site was now at a new location. Fortified by lunch Z and I set off to the new (drive up) site. Entrance is via a long drive way, then a left hand loop through a maze of traffic cones. I was second in line - great!)   until I figured out the system;  revealing that I was in o...

  This is a stock picture.  It's not me, but my fanciful imagination says that it's not far off from how I looked as a baby. Charming photo' eh? It calls to mind a little known universal law. Put on a clean shirt, (or blouse or dress etc), and within minutes you'll drop a bit of messy food on it -  some gravy, a bit of egg, or ice cream, or butter from hot buttered toast.  It never fails.  The food gods giggle and smirk. For me at least there is help at hand.  It's come to this when I eat at home. It's an apron, not a bib,  (a gift from my pal Ashley). And "you know?"  Just as soon as you choose to wear an apron you'll never drop so much as a bread crumb on it. Oh those wily food gods.

n I once owned four chiming clocks.   That made for a festival of  tintinnabulation. It also made for some tedious work in the spring and fall.   Springing forward is easy.  Falling back takes more time  -  one cannot simply retard chiming clocks by one hour; they must be advanced eleven hours or else the chiming mechanism is likely to go wack-a-doodle. I had four; which is too much of a good thing .  I gave two away,  another  (a wall clock) went crashing to the ground and was severely damaged.'Twas not a valuable antique, so I never had it repaired. The survivor is pictured above, I think that I bought it  some forty or so years back  at J.C. Penney of all places. It was silent for many years. A Sarasota friend asked me why, and I told him that the chiming mechanism was broken. The friend recommended a Clock Shop on Siesta Drive, Sarasota.  There I went to get an estimate for the cost of repairs. The woman in c...