Povey Prattle

Allan Rogers, (the excellent Deacon at St. Boniface Church, Siesta Key, FL)  and I had lunch today. At my request we went to the Chipotle on Frutville Rd in SRQ  (Fruitville and Honore). I had never before eaten at at Chipotle restaurant. This  restaurant chain got a bad rap a few years ago when they served some "contaminated?" meats, and customers got sick. And I knew that their food is high in calories. But I wanted to give them a try. Silly me, I had always thought that Chipotle was a high end chain with servers etc.   Instead   I discovered that it's just another fast food joint with a lot of "take out" customers I got a Burrito with Chorizo. It was very good but extremely unmanageable in its wrap..  So I went back to  the counter; got a bowl, and poured the contents out,  eschewing the wrap. It was pretty darn good in spite of all the calories, and the high price.  I think that my local independent Mexican restauran t could provid

It's always the poor wot suffers. As the memory of Irma recedes, some of us are very aware of the tremendous losses and destruction in the Virgin Islands, Barbuda, Puerto Rico and Cuba etc. Many may also have heard of the damage in such Floridian places as Naples, Jacksonville, and the Florida Keys. Not on all of our radars are some of the poorest communities in Florida. Take for instance the very poor southern Florida community of Immokale, where most of the residents are impoverished Haitians and Mexicans (migrants who make sure that we have tomatoes year round). http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article173202081.html Everglades City was also hard hit.  My sister Ruth, her husband Dennis and I were there last year, we took an utterly delightful rise by boat out into the Thousand Islands https://www.nbcnews.com/video/parts-of-everglades-city-florida-underwater-after-irma-1045114435977

YES! I forgot to add that immediately after Irma passed over (and I was unharmed and with  electricity) , I was able to make some calls via   Skype to a brother and two sisters in the U.K They had been deeply worried for me. How glad I was to reassure them early on Monday morning.  How grateful I am that "modern technology" came to my aid. So much has changed for the better in the communications business from the years 1976 onwards (when I first settled in the U.S.A).  AT & T  was the only game in town, and all overseas calls were via an operator.  I had to book calls to my U.K. family at Christmas-tide and Easter-tide.

via Rosemary F Although I am not sure what I think about this (from T.V.?) graphic we certainly escaped the brunt in Sarasota.  More about that later. Many others were not so fortunate.  The Florida Keys are a mess. Popular media outlets  will tell you all about that.  I do not know what to say about the people who refused to leave the Keys, but I know that for some it was all but impossible ** Puerto Rico is not a State within the U.S.A, rather it is an American Commonwealth (what ever that means).  Puerto Ricans are American citizens.  They can vote in Presidential Elections, but they have no Senators or Representatives in Congress. But it is Puerto Rico U.S.A. but you might not know it as the aftermath of Irma is reported here. Parts of P.R. were devastated.  I posted some up-to-date info on my Face book page today. It's been all but impossible to get  news from Cuba.   That Island was also hard hit, but the only info I have was from the Episcopal Church B

5 1/2   Gallons of fresh spring water, Not needed and not used in Hurricane Irma, Sep.. 2017.   (Gratefully).  Never used. Certainly not re-cycled. Available for $5.50 or above,  plus shipping charges.

My Lanai (a fancy word) is really what what more modest New Englander's would call a screened in porch The anti-mosquito (etc) screen was dislodged in one panel.  I can probably repair myself. Top portion of porch door fell in.  I've already put it back in place. Outside the east end of  the porch is a Cactus.  Cacti are disapproved of my the Condo. Board. This one was planted long before I bought the place.  It's been cut down twice, only to have it grow to even grander heights.  This time the Condo. Assoc shoukd have it dug out by the roots   Outside my condo  10:20 a.m. today (11th Sep).  Storm?, what storm!