Melissa Blazier

Melissa Blazier is Collier County's Supervisor of Elections.   She oversees elections for the City of Naples and for the county.

She and her office do more than 250 voter registration drives and outreach events every year.  They reach 5,000 students annually through high school registration programs.  I attended a recent talk.

This is an overwhelmingly Republican and white county.  It also skews heavily older, with a shocking 43 percent of registered voters being 66 years old or older!

Florida is tightening its already tight election policies to tilt the state even more strongly in favor of Republican candidates.  (My words, not hers.)  For example, voters must submit new vote-by-mail requests every year.  Ms. Blazier is a registered Republican but administers the office in a nonpartisan manner.    

Ridgways

 Ridgways Bar & Grill is a very popular restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining options at the intersection of Third Street South and Thirteenth Avenue South.

Golf

 

Two young men teed off from the longest tees on the first hole.

A foursome took turns putting on the tenth hole.

A woman hit a drive very well on the fourth hole.

Whenever I have water in front of me, I tighten up.  This golfer got it over, but his aim wasn't good.

Tree-Lined Streets

 I like coming across tree-lined streets in Naples.

A Hovering Osprey

 

A male osprey hovered over the bay, studying the water, before swooping down in a failed attempt to grab a fish.

Dama III

 

Dama III is a 2003 bronze by the Spanish sculptor Manolo Valdes.  It sits at the entrance to Artis-Naples.

Artis-Naples

 Standing at the entrance doors of Artis-Naples and looking back toward the street, we look past a circular driveway and columns toward a polished stainless steel sculpture.

The sculpture by Arik Levy is called RockGrowth370.  If you wonder why a bunch of jutting steel columns are called RockGrowth370, I understand your confusion.  I watched the artist's video explaining it twice and still don't understand.