Manatees

 Southwest Florida just ended a two week cold streak.  Manatees need warm water to survive. When water temperatures drop below 68° F (20° C), manatees leave their usual feeding grounds for warmer waters.  So, Manatee Park in Fort Myers has been full of manatees.

Why is the water here warm enough for manatees?  

When the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico drops below 68 degrees, manatees move to the Florida Power & Light Company discharge canal at the Fort Myers Power Plant.  The warm water discharged during the power generation process creates a refuge for manatees during the winter months from November - April.

Cowboy Church Ministries

 I drove to Labelle, a rural town east of Fort Myers.  While driving between Labelle and Immokalee, I saw a sign for Cowboy Church Ministries, so I turned in.

The church is a mile off the main road, in a farm complex with cattle and at least one horse.

The door was open, so I went inside.  It has a rustic charm.  

As I came out, a car stopped and a friendly woman smiled.  She was obviously curious why I was there.  So, I walked over, told her I spend some time looking for interesting things to photograph, so here I was.

Cindy is the pastor's wife.  She told me that her husband was originally a cowboy on the farm where his extended family has lived and worked for generations.  He used to participate in cowboy roping one Sunday a month, and began holding a short church service before the roping began.  By 2013 they were ready to build the church and start holding weekly church services.

The horse was also curious about me.  His name is RC, the initials of a previous owner.

The Winter Olympics!

 I know where I will be for many hours over the next two weeks!

The 2026 Winter Olympics are being hosted by Milan and Cortina, Italy. The Duomo di Milano or Milan Cathedral is one of the icons of Milan.

Milan has no mountains, so the mountain sports will be centered in Cortino, where some of the Olympics opening ceremonies were also conducted.

Some of the ski events will be in Bormio and Predazza.

I always love the parade of the athletes from the many participating countries.

Let the games begin!

These images were all taken from the NBC broadcast of the opening ceremonies.

Kunjani

Kunjani is a Naples coffeehouse opened ten years ago today by a mother and daughter from Zimbabwe.  

Kunjani offers a small amount of African art as well as excellent coffee and pastries. 

Like many coffeehouses, it also serves as a meetinghouse for neighborhood people.

Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma

 Barnes & Noble vacated this prominent Naples location a year ago, moving a mile south to a bigger store.

The building underwent a long renovation, with most of us wondering who the new tenants would be.  Signs for sister companies Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma went up a month or two ago, and the stores opened maybe two weeks ago.

It looked as if PB and WS required patrons to drive up in matching white-and-black cars.

Mercato

 Mercato  is an upscale outdoor shopping center in Naples.  It has undergone a substantial number of store changes in the past year.  Most of the vacancies are now filled again.

Mercato has several locations with stores on the first level and nice apartments above.

A banyan tree holds down a major intersection.

No one was getting pictures taken while I was there.

Birch Lane -- one of Wayfair's retail furniture brands -- has a prominent corner.

Landscaping

 

Isn't this a nice, colorful landscape?