I hope that this finds you keeping well and safe from this dreadful pandemic.
This country is being ravaged by both the weather and the COVID pandemic. Every time I look at the figures for COVID in America and the world I am still amazed that the so-called “leader of the free world” and the world’s most powerful nation should be in the unenviable position of still being top of the league for not only the number of cases but also the number of deaths. On 21 August my home state of Florida became the third state in the U.S. to reach 3 million cases of COVID-19, a total surpassed by only 15 countries in the world. A new report said that August was the deadliest month for Florida since the beginning of the pandemic. It looks like it will not be going away for some time yet!
It does seem that the weather is getting not only warmer but more unpredictable. You just have to look at the twelve countries in Europe alone that have flooded in the last few months with about 250 people dying as a result. It’s sad to see pictures of people living in basements in and around New York City being drowned during the latest flooding. And there is more flooding expected for the southern states of America. The sea level around Florida has risen by eight inches since 1950. Where I live we are, on average, just six feet above sea level. I think I should buy myself a boat!!
I have already mentioned that I have been going to a weekly poker tournament for the last couple of months and that I came third a while back. Well two weeks ago I won the bloody thing earning myself $135. It’s a case of if you get some good cards dealt to you then your chances of winning are pretty good. Get shit dealt to you and you could play all night and never win a thing. So, I’m saying it is luck rather than skill on my part.
The local weather has been living up to its title of the Sunshine State. Temperatures for the last few months have been hovering around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees C.). The highest I think we had was 96 degrees one day last month, but the humidity can make it feel like it’s over 100 degrees. I am not complaining because I love it. Walking around every day with shorts and a T-shirt on. It’s also good drinking weather!
When I go shopping at my local supermarket they have what they used to refer to as the “Ethnic Section”. They now call it the “International Section”. In this section they have foods from, for example, Great Britain, Jewish, Italy, Mexico, etc. It used to make me laugh to think of English food as being ethnic. Anyway, I picked up a bag of Licorice Allsorts and now I have got a taste for them. So much so that I now buy six bags at a time from Amazon. I also buy Mint Imperials and Fox’s Glacier Mints, both childhood favourites of mine, and Mars Bars.
There is a small local shop that sells English foods, etc. It is run by a lady who was originally from, of all places, my home city of Liverpool. But she only opens one day a week. I will occasionally go around there to buy Cornish Pasties, Sausage Rolls, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Pork Sausages. The only problem is that they are so expensive but worth it for the occasional treat.
Here are a few of the lighter and stranger pieces of news from Florida:
A 43-year-old woman was found naked in a storm drain in Delray Beach. When rescued she said she had been down there for six weeks. The police and fire service who rescued her did not believe her story. She may be suffering from mental illness and addiction.
A “bandana-wearing” iguana “attacked” someone in Miami recently. It climbed over a fence, frightened someone and then climbed back over the fence when it was called by a woman next door. The “someone” said the iguana was wearing a red bandana like a neckerchief. I say they should stay off the drugs!
A man covered in black garbage bags set fire to several trucks at a Florida waste management business causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage, police said. The suspect wearing a “garbage bag type suit” and goggles broke into the Pompano Beach Waste Pro facility by torching the gate.
A 71-year-old woman riding with her daughter on Florida’s Interstate 95 suffered a gashed forehead when a turtle smashed through the windshield of their car, striking her. It’s thought the turtle was hit by another car launching it in the air.
Best wishes, Jack
Hello Jack, Thank you for your timely, and – as ever – interesting Newsletter from the New World. As you say, Covidity continues to spread its gloom. Luckily the weather, in Norwich at least, has temporarily improved, giving us some relief during the week the schools go back. And good to hear of your poker-playing success. You have the right attitude as regards the luck of it all: spend it on some luxury Mars bars – even a Twix or two! Good to see the local eccentricities as reported in the Florida newspapers. We still have our own candidates, as you well know.
All the very best, and keep at it, Reg