Povey Prattle

On Friday 30th December 2016 I was privileged to pray the Invocation and Blessing when Jesse Rollins was elevated to the rank of Eagle Scout. Jesse, together with his older brother Chris and his super parents Keith and Lisa are beloved members of the Church I attend (St. Boniface Episcopal Church , Sarasota, FL).. The pathway to the rank of Eagle Scout is far more difficult and demanding than the easy come /easy go journey to Confirmation in the Episcopal//Anglican Church. Just sayin' ....  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jesse and jmp

At the west end of Glen Oaks Ridge, my home in Sarasota, there is a bit of land which is part of our property. The lore is that once upon a time the City of Sarasota had eyed it for an extension to nearby Prudence Drive.  That never happened (thank goodness).  The land is a gentle and pleasant buffer between us and the next door Glen Oaks Manor community. "Back when" the Glen Oaks Ridge Board decided that the buffer land needed a fence.  It was a fence which made no sense, it kept nobody out or in, 'Twas just a bit of ugly nonsense. Forty or so years on that fence began to fall apart.  The Board made the good decision:  that it would be cheaper to tear the fence down that to have it repaired or replaced. Nothing but the fence posts to be removed. Opening up the land Of course some of the abutters are already complaining, believing as they do that "Good Fences Make Good Neighbours". That's of course from a poem by Robert Frost.  It's s

Stock photo' We have a problem in capitalistic America. It is a problem which affects the life and financial security of people who work hard, but cannot get ahead. It's a problem which is rooted in injustice.  It' s problem which cowardly Democrats and smug Republicans alike refuse to address. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When my family members visit me from the U.K. I have to give them some instruction in the matter of tipping, particularly in restaurants. For you see, the assumption in the U.K. is that wait-staff/servers are paid a decent wage, and that tipping (usually 5%) is a way of  showing generous gratitude for good service. 'Tis not so in the good ole USA. (the land of the free and the home of the poor). In Florida for instance the minimum wage for restaurant servers is just over $5 per hour. That is not a living wage, even for the very few who work for forty

Farewell  good root vegetable When I was young I despised the flavour of  parsnips which our Mum included in her famous Saturday lunch-time winter stews, together with turnips, carrots, onions, spuds, and  a bit of stew-beef  or lamb meat. As I grew older I "adored" the flavour of the parsnips which Mum would par-boil, and then roast (with spuds) alongside Sunday's Roast Beef, (Do understand young friends that in the olden days the beef we used for roasting included super veins of fat;  fat with which the aforementioned potatoes and parsnips could be basted.  Lament with me that modern day beef  [as sold in those dens of iniquity known as supermarkets]   has been denuded of the slightest traces of fat).   Forgive my digression.  I was writing about the joy of roasted parsnips, and or parsnips in general, A  few years ago when I became concerned at the condition of the skin on my hands, I took myself to a local  Urgent Care Clinic. The Physic

When I was a parish rector I always liked the service on Christmas Day more than those on Christmas Eve.  There was much less to fret about than at the Christmas Eve services in all their glory, Christmas Day usually brought out the beloved faithful, whilst Christmas Eve brought out the twice a year folks. I truly liked and valued the twicers and did my best to welcome them as Christ had welcomed me. The Christmas Day service  had a different dynamic: - more intimate, less "busy".  That suited me well. Christmas Day worship, (sans choir, trumpeters, and players of the shawm) has its own musical challenges. I was reminded of this on Christmas 2015 when I was the celebrant and preacher at St. B's on Siesta Key.  I had not chosen the hymns. The closing song was "The First Nowell" - all six verses. It goes  on, and on, and on. By the end of the sixth verse I could scarcely give a fig about who had been born! -- I was the presider again on

I had to take my car this morning  to a local Goodyear Service Station for a leaking  tyre to be fixed. I was certain that the station was located at 401 North Lime St, here in SRQ. That was the address I gave to me good pal Rick who had agreed to meet me there, and drive me home. I got to 401 North Lime Street. I twice  drove the length of the street.  There was no sign of a Goodyear Station. Rick also got to 401 North Lime Street.   He also  twice  drove the length of the street. He found  no sign of a Goodyear Station. I called Goodyear.   Oh dear, they are at 401 North Lemon St! In truth I had my "Citrus is a twist". Rick and I finally hooked up at the correct address from where he drive me home. Later this morning Goodyear called me. They reported that they'd found a nail in the leaking tyre, and that all four tyres were in poor shape, I was not surprised since the most recent report I received from Sarasota's wonderful Sam'

Thomanerchor: "Jauchzet frohlocket" by Johann Sebastian Bach (Track One) https://youtu.be/MVewzMm1uts

My favourite rendition of O Holy Night.  by Nat King Cole https://youtu.be/gSeLzsl8xsU The History of "O Holy Night" , and Merry Christmas everyone. The following is not my writing.  I "lifted it" from the WWW Stories Behind the Music: "O Holy Night" "O Holy Night" remains one of the world's most beloved Christmas carols, with uplifting lyrics and melody. The lyrics were written by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a resident of Roquemaure, France (located a few miles north of the historic city of Avignon). Cappeau was a wine merchant and mayor of the town, as well as an occasional writer of poetry.  Known more for his poetry than his church attendance, it probably shocked Cappeau when his parish priest, shortly before Cappeau embarked on a business trip, asked him to pen a poem for Christmas mass. In a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road to France's capital city, Cappeau considered the priest's request.

I first encountered the Diane Rehm show on New Hampshire Public Radio when I was driving to Dartmouth in that State. At first I thought her speaking voice to be a bit odd, but when I discovered the reason for its idiosyncratic cadences I began to admire and respect her courage and determination as a broadcaster, (See link below). My local stations in Pittsfield  (WAMC) and Cambridge (WBUR) were too high and mighty to air the Diane Rehm Show, so it was not until I moved to Sarasota that listening to it became a very important part of my weekday mornings, as I tuned into WUSF. Diane's  programme has two distinct and discrete live broadcasting hours, one from 10:00 - 11:00, the other from 11:00 to Noon.  Her topics are eclectic and broad, her guests include people with a wide range of interests and political views, What I have most liked about Diane is that she has never failed to name horse-sh-t as horse-sh-t. She has never let her guests get away with half-truths, evasions a

We wish you a merry Christmas.... ...  has a line which reads "Good tidings we bring, to you and your kin". As a lad I was sure that it ought to read "Good tidings we bring, to you and your King ". So I sang it that way.   After all "bring" and "kin"  do not rhyme,  (and I grew up in a  Monarchy). U.K. King George VI.  He died when I was eight years old.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My twin sister and I attended the same schools from first through sixth grades. Our parents wisely insisted that we should never have the same classroom teachers (sibling rivalry and all that stuff). In what Americans would call 5th grade we each had classroom teachers who were also organists/choir leaders at local Methodist Churches;  hers at Eastville Park Methodist Church, mine at Bethel Methodist Church, St. George  (both in east Brist

On returning home yesterday afternoon at about 4:30 I was greeted by a very agitated neighbour D-wn C, "Michael", she said, "my house if full of smoke, and my thing is beeping, and I don't know what to do". Here I did the wrong thing, I went into the house.  That could have been dangerous . Of course I called 911.   The dispatcher asked me a series of questions.  It seems to me that this is necessary in the light of various hoax or prank calls.  And it was important for the fire-fighters to know if anyone was still in the house, and/or if anyone was injured, The SCFD  was on its way in a matter of 45 seconds. The nearest firehouse is just over a mile away, and we could hear the sirens all the way up Circus Boulevard, In turns out that D-awn had overcooked some food in her microwave, No harm was done (except to the food!). D-awn is, to put it nicely, quite fuzzy around the edges, so I was glad to have arrived home just as her crisis began. And to p

From the Dec 18th Sunday leaflet at the Church I attend. "Please remember the 100,000 Americans who are killed or injured each year by guns in your personal prayers on this occasion". I know what this is meant to say, but I do not have guns in my personal prayers.   Honestly!

I know this lad. He does not learn in all the usual ways as we do, but hr has a gift which many of us lack. He has a deep appreciation for beauty. If he could he would spend endless hours at a beach, delighting in the waves and wavelets of the incoming and out going tides. "What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare". My young friend is changed from glory into glory  as he soaks in the beauty of Christmas lights.

The Church of the Good Shepherd, Fitchburg. Sadly now closed as an Episcopal Parish.

I'll try to keep calm, but I have the blues. This is because I drove my beloved sister Maureen and her good husband Bern to for their flight to Bernard and Maureen have been visiting with me for two glorious weeks,  We've had such splendid adventures, including a marvelous trip to the Bay State. Today I got them to MCO much to early for their flight -  but we had each been anxious about traffic on Interstate 4 Saying goodbye at an airport terminal kerbside is rotten.  Maureen and I were very teary eyed.  She and Bern then moved into that part of hell known as an airport terminal, whilst I drove home (through a ten mile section of I-4 which had bumper to bumper traffic through the exits and entrances from the secular purgatory collectively known as "Disney").   (Oh for the days when I could have escorted family members to their cabin on a transatlantic ship, and then waved to them from a Pier in Southampton or New York City as that ship

Photo's taken at City Island and Ken Thompson Park. I find beauty in such days.  (Not all photo's are labeled) Tip of Ken Thompson Park Looking towards Longboat Key Drawbridge Looking north to LBK New sniffing territory for Penne She loves new places Ringling Bridge scarcely visible Looking towards Ringling Bridge Nature's art work

Today at 3:30 p.m. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When we left Boston yesterday morning the temperature was 34 f. When we arrived in Sarasota it was 84 f. Now that's more like it! We went out to the Sarasota County/Audubon Society site named "Celery Fields" this morning.  SEE http://extra.heraldtribune.com/2014/01/27/celery-fields-a-big-draw-for-birds-and-birders/ It's such an oasis of peace and beauty on the edge of a busy city and near a noisy Interstate Highway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We opted for a late lunch at Marina Jack on Sarasota's Bayfront Marina Jack is situated on a piece of very desirable property.   It serves as a full service Marina for fancy Yachts with their even fancier owners. There's only a wee bit of competition for dining on the Bayfron

Morning light across the Charles River -  with Boston's famous CITGO sign almost in a halo Morning ,light - Boston view taken from outside our Hotel Looking across the River to Boston University (and the Marsh Chapel) Our Cambridge Hotel is not too shabby! Bern and Maureen shivering in a Kendall Square (Cambridge) doorway after our Boston Trolley Tour  (which they enjoyed immensely.  We were waiting for the shuttle back to the Hyatt. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IN THE EVENING Dinner this evening with good friends in Plymouth MA  L-R  jmp, Jonathan and Andi Taylor, Bern and Maureen Theobald.  It was a gorgeous reunion, with rich, funny, and delightful conversations.