"They Told Me I Couldn't. That's Why I Did"

"What did they say you couldn't do?" I asked.  Patty said she came to the USA from Ecuador 23 years ago.  Her husband told her she couldn't speak English well enough, she was too nice, people would walk all over her, and she should go back to Ecuador.

Patty left that husband.  She now has a great second husband, two kids and a job she loves.  Last year she was named to the Delta Chairman's Club, one of only 100 out of 80,000 Delta Airlines employees.  The award is for receiving customer praise, a recommendation
from supervisors, and volunteering for community work.

Roseate Spoonbill

It was good of this guy to hang around for a while in a sunny spot.

Karen

Karen is a very fit fitness instructor.  She leads early morning indoor exercise classes and 

mid-morning outdoor water exercise classes.  I go to the water classes.

Coconut Point Mall

You have to get out of the car and walk to the sidewalk along US Route 41 on a pretty day to appreciate how beautiful the entrance to Coconut Point Mall in Estero, Florida, is.

Weekend Reflections.

Three Ibises

They flew into a tree as I approached.  Then they lined up nicely.

Ibises are the last to flee as a hurricane approaches, signaling that danger is near, and they
are the first to come out afterward, signaling that the coast is clear.

Dinosaurs

When I look at single-story storefronts along Naples' Fifth Avenue South, I see dinosaurs.

Though 5th Avenue Coffee & 6th Street Diner is a popular place, similar low buildings are being torn down and replaced with taller (and more expensive) buildings like the yellow one next door.

Same thing here.

And here.

It is not that the new buildings are especially big.  They are only three floors high.  But, parking is tough in this congested area, and the rents of new buildings price out the small local businesses.

This new building a block away, has just been completed, but all the ground level windows
have "For Lease" signs.  The businesses that were removed to
build this building can't afford to be there.

Rebecca and Three60 Market

Rebecca owns and operates Three60 Market, a thriving breakfast and lunch spot on Haldeman Creek off Bayshore Boulevard in East Naples.  She is also building a place across the creek, 

Celebration Park, that will host food trucks, a pavilion and a tiki bar.