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Showing posts from March 11, 2018

The gifts of friends

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Jacob Taylor is a sophomore at New College, Sarasota.  His parents Jonathan and Andi  (the Revd) moved from Sarasota to West Yarmouth, MA  when his mother was called to be the Rector of St. David's Church there.  Jacob's brother Noah is an Army Ranger. Jacob and I munched at Panera Bread on University Parkway, SRQ I have known Jack and Pat McLaughlin since 1984 when I became the Rector of the Parish they attended, St. Stephen's, Pittsfield, MA. Upon retirement they moved to the  (truly lovely) town of Wolfeboro, N.H. where I visited them many times;  then more recently to Nashua N.H. Pat and Jack visit Longboat Key, FL every March and we always look forward to getting together. Today we had a great reunion and a  picnic lunch at Sarasota's sometimes under appreciated City Island.   see: https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2012/12/1/wonderful-waterful-city-island The photo's have a common factor, but you'll never guess what it i

Gone but not forgotten

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It was a year ago that I adopted the ever wonderful Ben.  I had to say farewell to this great dog 'cause his separation anxiety when I left him alone was pitiful. He is now re-homed with a family who have another Greyhound, and he is doing so very well.  As we walked Ben, on my left, would often nudge my left hand.  Sweet!

I am not antediluvian or luddite by nature...BUT

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When it comes to text messages I am a flop! My old fingers and thumbs are no longer nimble, so I use a stylus.  It works for me. But that's not the issue.    You see,  I text in sentences, using fullstops, commas, parentheses,  and capitalization etc. Silly me! CASE IN POINT I have been trying to arrange  a late lunch with Jacob T  (son of Jonathan T and the Revd Andi T, (formerly of Sarasota). Jacob stayed in the area as he is enrolled at New College, Sarasota. I sent him by text what was almost an essay as I made a suggestion for our lunch rendezvous. He replied with one word:- " Solid" , indicating that my suggestion was good for him. I write a term paper by text.  Jacob T replies with one word! I suppose that I should master the texting language and etiquette.   Jacob is decades ahead of me in this learning. Whatever    ( I can be with it!)  I look forward to lunch with this fine young man.

TURN THE LIGHT ON!

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DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU  (1) I awoke this morning (14th March 2018) at about 1:00 a.m. with a very dry mouth. I began to walk towards the kitchen to find a hard candy, but did not turn the light on. All unbeknown  to me Zion ( a.k.a. "Mr Perfect) had decided not to sleep on his bed, but in the bedroom doorway (protecting me?). I tripped over him and fell to the ground,  (no bruises or blood shed by  me or Zion) but I manged to knock a container of blood thinner meds to the ground. Pills all over the floor!  I had to sweep them up in the wee hours lest Mr.Perfect should decide that they were dog treats. -------------------------------------------------- DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU  (2) Later in the morning Mr. Z decided that he'd rather sit in the front passenger seat of my car than in the back seats. All well and good but he also decided to lie on his side with his head on my right thigh so that I could caress him, 

A Jolly Good Day! (with a lachrymose moment),

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13th March 2018 Off to the Goodwill used book store on Clark Rd/Derek Rd SRQ at 10:00. today.  There I bought two good priced books by my current favourite authors Joyce Carol Oates ("Beasts"), and Isabel Allende ("The House Of The Spirits"). From there to Trader Joe's to get their good and low priced dog food; their excellent Ciabatta Bread; and "Irish Style" bangers, a new product in their range. "Bangers and Mash" soon! See this   https://youtu.be/aGFpVN2xwXU ---------------------------------------------------------------------- That being accomplished I met my good friend Rick P for lunch at  Sabrosa on South Osprey (opposite P.F. Chang's). Here is a puff piece about Sabrosa https://youtu.be/raRlIGABOKs The food is good! I had    CARNITAS (Street TACOS) (MICHOACÁN, MEXICO) Pulled pork, Sabrosa Sauce drizzle.   with CHIPOTLE SLAW (MEXICO) as a side. Oh Yum! ------------------------

Divesting from plastics (and a question about soap flakes).

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My plastic jug of liquid laundry detergent being empty I looked today for a replacement in my local supermarket, with the hope that I could avoid plastic containers. There were only two brands of powdered detergent in cardboard boxes on the shelves. I opted for this  But even the cardboard box has a light plasticy laminate, so I am not sure how recyclable it is. (Incidentally, contrary to public lore,  the origin of  the Arm and Hammer brand name has nothing to do with an oil tycoon named Armand Hammer.  But he was wealthy enough to buy some shares of the Manufacturing Company and to gain a seat on the Board - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm_%26_Hammer   ) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other notes: 1.  I am not persuaded that detergents are good for us, or good for the environment  (waste water etc). 2. I looked in vain in the supermarket for soap flakes, as a more enviro

Mothering Sunday (and some griefs observed)

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In the English speaking Commonwealth Countries 11 th  March 2018 has been Mothering Sunday.  It's a quasi-religious celebration which is observed on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, this its date varies from year to year.    It is not the same as the fixed date American Mother's Day - although thanks to the baleful influence of American cultural imperialism it is now widely known as Mother's Day in Commonwealth Countries  (Boo!). There are various theories as to the etiology of Mother Sunday.  I suspect that some of them are a bit bogus.  (Did people truly go to their Mother Church on this day  -  and if so why?).   (Did servant girls get this Sunday off to visit their mothers - and if so why not servant boys?) Perhaps it has a connection to a passage from the fourth chapter of Paul's letter to the Galatians which in the olden days was always read in Anglican Churches on Lent IV -  it contains this somewhat odd reference to the heavenly city as   " Jerusale