Povey Prattle

  Every Thursday afternoon I am part of a Zoom conversation which was initiated by my friend Dr. Grace Jones.  As well as Grace there are six of us, having one thing in common -  we are all Friends of Grace -  hence the group is named FOG. We've been doing this for more than a year.  Our conversations were at first rooted in the conviction we have in common: that Black Lives Matter and that reparations for the descendants of the enslaved are long overdue.   As our weekly conversations have continued, we have each come to the same conclusion:  that our FOG conversations via Zoom have become one of  the highlights of our week. We can be serious, we can ask questions, and we can be silly. Yesterday (12th August) as we reflected on the political response to the COVID pandemic, rather than on medical wisdom I blurted out "that's just piffle."  " Piffle" a word that I had not used in so many years. Here is what it means in British English...

  My brain froze at the Doctor's Office this morning, The receptionist said "What is your last name?"  For a moment I could not answer. For all I knew she might have been asking me a question about advanced physics. Then my brain unfroze. In a strong and confident voice, like the voices of those who get the answer on "Wheel of Fortune",  I said POVEY.  Phew!  The receptionist got a fit of the giggles!

  Satire from The Borowitz Report DeSantis Losing Support Among Voters Opposed to Dying The Governor’s favorability numbers are plummeting among Floridians who describe themselves as “somewhat,” “very,” or “strongly” opposed to being dead. By Andy Borowitz

  There was a lovely small wood on South Beneva Rd, Sarasota  (next door  to the Garden Center). It is no more.  It now looks like this The noble (and probably quite ancient) trees have been ripped out of the ground for what is called development.  Goodbye fungi.  Goodbye small mammals.  Goodbye microorganisms, insects, and worms.  Goodbye cardinals, song birds, mocking birds and hawks. Hallo Townhouses. The Destructors have  the insensitivity, or nerve to name their "out with the trees, in with the houses" project THUS: Some frigging "legacy".

Someone with a sense of humour as quirky as mine read my spoof posting about mail order flamingos  (two days ago). Mr. Bezos came to my house today.  To be truthful he sent one of his twelve thousand minions, with an bubbly envelope type package for me. It contained two fine and exquisite works of art, to be treasured first by me, then by my children, and then my grandchildren.  I post two photo's of the art work so that you can rejoice in my good fortune. I think  that I know who sent them. Most likely Ms. A.L.