Povey Prattle

They met at our gig at ALSO Youth on 27th Feb 2020 Treat time with Olive's "Mom". Her name is Olive. She is a sixteen month old English Mastiff; gorgeous to look at, sweet as they come, and already well trained.   (But oh the drool!). Zion and Olive got along well, especially at treat time. Olive can be seen at   Alberti's Distinctive Haircuts & Styles Call (941) 365-6004 1379 Main Street | Downtown Sarasota    where her Mum is the owner and operator.   

It's been the best day of their life for many Glen Oaks Ridge Condominium Residents  (Sarasota). We are a 55+ community of people who fret and worry about this, that and the other (and nothing). But today was a day for exuberant and widespread celebration at GOR.  A begone dull care day. We had fireworks, a brass band, and five or six block parties. There were sights and sounds of jubilation on our streets.  The Champagne flowed. A bit of background.  About a year ago the City of Sarasota took over the trash and recycling collection, having been unable to secure a reasonable contract with either of the two Commercial trash/recycling contractors which operate in this area. As part of the City takeover residents were issued with two brand  new bins, one for trash, one for recycling. But for reasons beyond my ken, we the humble residents did not get our new bins until today  -  a year late. That was call for a fete, a carnival, a public display of joy at GOR. Here the

My good friend and parishioner at St. Stephen's, Pittsfield, MA  Dr. Bill Travis is a keen fisherman.   He found this photo' taken at  Cill Rónáin pier, Inis Mór, Aran Islands, Co. Galway, Ireland. 1940.  Bill suggests that the fisherman on the left is my 1940 doppelganger! I don't think that it's me in a previous life, since the photo' was taken in 1940 and I was born in 1944.  Besides which, I don't believe in previous lives. On another note This morning I again saw the woman who is grieving the loss of her dog.  I remembered her name and hailed her across the pond at Arlington Park.  She remembered my name and Zion's name and hailed us back. I waited for her in the parking lot.  She told me that today she had made three 1/2 mile laps around the park without shedding tears.  But when we chatted in the parking lot she began to weep again. They were good tears; healing tears. She said that our conversation yesterday had "made

My friend Kathy B-J thought that the woman who tied my shoe laces at Red Bug Slough last Sunday might have been an angel; (i.e a messenger from God). Mary C, a mutual friend to Kathy  and to me agreed. If so, "what was the message this 'angel'  brought just before Lent?" Maybe it was this  "John Michael Povey accept a gracious gift from a stranger". Oh that's tough!  JMP is an all-American; all-Sufficient male.   Dammit, he can tie his own shoe laces.  And so my  male mental tapes go on, and on, and on, and on, and on. Until this morning in Arlington Park. I sat down on a park bench to make room for what I call the " Parade of Seven"   (three owners and five dogs) as they made their anti-clockwise peregrination. We meet them most every day. Meanwhile, walking clockwise,  a woman walker encountered the parade.  At which she began to sob uncontrollably. "You seem to be extremely sad" I said, at which the woman sat dow

Those ough words  (see my blog re Red Bug Slough);  and other good stuff from G.B.S. -------------------------------------------- "Hints on pronunciation for foreigners" George Bernard Shaw I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough. Others may stumble, but not you, On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through. Well done! And now you wish, perhaps, To learn of less familiar traps. Beware of heard, a dreadful word That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead-it's said like bed, not bead. For goodness sake, don't call it deed! Watch out for meat and great and threat. They rhyme with suite and straight and debt. A moth is not a moth in mother, Nor both in bother, broth in brother, And here is not a match for there, Nor dear and fear for pear and bear. And then there's dose and rose and lose Just look them up--and goose and choose. And cork and work and card and ward. And font and front and word and sword. And do and go, then thwart and

https://youtu.be/ip09OPFfJb8

Mr. Z and I set out yesterday morning for the Goodwill Second Hand Book Store on Clark Rd. Sarasota. En route we took a walk at the Red Bug Slough Preserve, an oft ignored parcel of natural Florida.   The preserve is named for the cotton stainer bug (scientific name: Dysdercus suturellus) https://www.visitsarasota.com/parks/red-bug-slough-preserve This link describes it well.  There are no paved walkways; the walking is on sandy trails. Zion savoured all the new smells, his nose worked overtime. Red Bug   As we drew near to the parking lot on our way out we encountered an older couple (I sometimes choose to forget that I am an older man!) with their two miniature Dachshunds, one entirely black. Stock photo' The woman explained that her dogs were a bit yappy, but Mr. Z soon worked his calming magic on them. Then the woman noticed that my shoe laces were somewhat awry (mid-way between teenager sloppy and Longboat Key elegant