Out of the Jurisdiction: Arriving in Miami Beach

Got to Miami Beach yesterday, before flying away on Tuesday.

The late afternoon was cool and the beach was becoming deserted, but the clouds were terrific.

 I liked this plaque on the wall of the Cadet Hotel.

The Lincoln Street Mall is people watching par excellence, 

along with cafes, shops, galleries and crafts.

One store was decorated with row upon row of vintage sewing machines.  

The brown bag in the foreground was the only item I saw that was not black or white.

People watching resumed after dinner.  The Miami Beach Community Church is in 

a Spanish-influenced style.  It is one of the older buildings on Lincoln Street Mall.

The New World Symphony Hall is a Frank Gehry 2011 collaboration with Yasuhisa Toyota, who 

designed the acoustics.  It is more box-like and less free-wheeling than many Gehry structures; 

I liked it.  I might have liked the landscaping even more.

I will be away again until mid-March.

Covenant Church

 It is Sunday again.  Time for another church.

The Covenant Church/Presbyterian Church in America was already a huge facility, but a year or two ago an addition doubled its size.  Only a fraction of the church fits into this view.  I go past it 

all the time, and the parking lot usually has only a sprinkling of cars.  I don't get it.

Click here to see more photographs with reflections.

AsianFest 2016 IV

If I told you that nearly all of the performers who were dressed up were women,

you would believe me, wouldn't you?

And if I told you that buying pad thai for lunch had nothing to do with this server, 

you would believe me, wouldn't you?

AsiaFest 2016 III

There was a colorful lion dance performed by the Lee Loon Hung Kung Fu Academy.

The performers looked like teenagers.

The announcer was excited that the Chinese lion dance was supported by a Japanese drum troupe.

It was hard capturing unobstructed images, with all the dancers moving among the crowd.

AsiaFest 2016 II

A six member troupe of Korean women danced and banged on drums.

It was a captivating, graceful,  dynamic (and loud!) performance.

AsiaFest 2016 I

Last weekend, AsiaFest 2016 was sponsored by the Naples Asian Professionals Association.

Entertainers came from all over south Florida.  

This is the Philippine Performing Arts Company of Tampa.

Fran and Nancy

The Brown Bag Group was back at Starbucks.

Fran's parents were both Italian immigrants.  She grew up in Hell's Kitchen, where her father had a bakery.  Fran worked for a while as a bilingual secretary.  She went on to college and became a teacher.  Fran ended up as the director of her school system's gifted and talented program.

Fran and her husband have four children and eight grandchildren.  

They have lived in Naples for 23 years.

Nancy is from the Massachusetts Berkshires.  She went to school in Boston, got married, and followed her husband to New York, the Midwest and eventually Hong King and Tokyo.

Along the way they had six children.  Nancy went back to school at Rutgers and UConn

and finished a masters in counseling at the College of St. Joseph in West Hartford,

just a few blocks from my Connecticut house.

Edison Festival of Lights 5K

Kenyan Julius Koskei won Saturday's Edison Festival of Lights 5K with a time of
14 minutes, 30 seconds.  He was disappointed at his time!

I got plenty of practice at panning my shots.



This determined young man ran hard to the finish after losing his shoe and grasping it in his hand.



Don't you just love this boy's joy at running?



And I loved the competitive fire these two showed as they strained to the finish line.

Yellow House

This house is an older Bonita Springs home, built in the Old Florida style, with open front porch, metal roof with peaked gables and deep overhangs.

In January, I had a post about an exhibition at the Naples Depot about the 1997 Swamp Buggy Queen. Checking blog comments a few days ago, I discovered that Stacy Rhodes, the 1997 swamp
buggy queen, had found the post and wrote a nice comment about the first swamp buggy queen.
We never know who reads our blogs, do we?  Thanks, Stacy.

Curt Clawson

Curt Clawson is the Congressman from this part of Southwest Florida.  His most important legislative focus has been on water issues, which are very important to Gulf of Mexico communities
and a state with Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.

Clawson played basketball at Purdue, and his TV commercials always show him shooting baskets.
He is often at "my" Starbucks, looking like he just stepped off the court.
Which he might have.
Here he wore a Florida Gulf Coast University shirt.

Blue Zone

Naples Community Hospital is the sponsor of Southwest Florida's Blue Zone initiative.

It is a community-wide project to make healthier options available and improve well-being.

The Cider Press is the first Blue Zone-certified restaurant in Naples.  It is a popular vegan restaurant.
Doug is the general manager.  He has been in the restaurant business for more than twenty years.
Since working at The Cider Press and eating vegan for five days a week,

Doug has lost 40 pounds in the last year.  He has never felt better.

Thomas Edison!

Look who I met standing outside a store at the Bell Tower Shops.  Thomas Edison!

He didn't say much.

Shy Wolf Sanctuary

Shy Wolf Sanctuary is a refuge for abused and abandoned wolves, wolf dogs, coyotes, panthers, cougars and other exotic wildlife.  It is in the rural part of Collier County east of U.S. Route 75.  Currently more than 30 wolves and wolf dogs reside at Shy Wolf.

I visited a week ago, expecting to take a few photos and leave.  But, Tiffany escorted me around, unlocked cages and led me inside (eek!) and instructed me to take a seat and be still (eek!) while the wolves and wolf dogs approached us (eek!).  I managed to leave with all of my original parts intact.

The Shy Wolf Sanctuary is an expensive refuge to operate.  Here is a link to their website.

Cars on Fifth

On Saturday, the owners of about 100 Ferraris and 450 other collectible cars showed off displayed their amazing vehicles to more than 50,000 visitors on Fifth Avenue South in Naples.

Unsurprisingly, this 1935 Auburn Supercharged Boattail Speedster was named Best in Show.

If I had a vote, this 1929 Packard roadster might have been a contender.

 Red was a popular color, maybe because the next day was Valentine's Day.  

More likely, owners of fancy cars have figured out that hot red cars are babe magnets.

This Aston Martin was for sale at a smidge over $300,000.  I didn't buy it.

This shot gives a sense of the crowds.

Presidents Day

I am old fashioned enough to regret the merging of Lincoln's Birthday (February 12) and Washington's Birthday (February 22) into Presidents Day.  Win some, lose some.
Here are some works from the New Britain Museum of Art to honor the two great Presidents.

Here is a 1947 bust of Abraham Lincoln by American 20th century sculptor Jo Davidson.
A companion bust is at the Lincoln home museum in Springfield, Illinois.

And here are double knock-offs of Gilbert Stuart's famous 1796 painting of George Washington.
The one on the left is a reverse painting on glass by the prominent Cantonese artist, Foeiqua, around 1800.  Washington and Stuart's painting were so popular that there was a thriving trade in copying the Stuart painting.  The one on the right is an intentionally blurred and manipulated 2013 copy of the Foeiqua painting by American "artist," Bill Cunningham.  I hate it.

Valentine's Day

For a couple of weeks, Victoria has been hanging a variety of women's clothing with hearts near the store's entrance.  There seems to be a steady flow of women buying tops featuring big, bold hearts

Happy Valentine's Day.

Beach Umbrellas

An older couple didn't want to get too much sun.
They created a colorful hut out of three umbrellas.
If you squint, you will make out the Naples Pier on the horizon.

Sunrise on the Lake

This was a pretty nice sunrise if you like subtlety.

For other photographs with reflections, click here.

The Promenade

The Promenade used to be a happening place.  In the recession of 2008-2009, The Promenade might have crashed as hard as any place in Southwest Florida.  It has taken years, but it is back.

Guest Photographer: Going Shopping

How do you keep a princess from crawling away while shopping?  Here is one answer.

Have a very happy nine month birthday, Willa.

Great pic, Susie and Wessel.

A Naples Collection

Black and white in Naples:  Audi, Merc, Merc, Rolls and Beemer.  What, no Bentleys?

Sir Charles.

Way to go!  There are men's rooms and then there are men's rooms.

These can't be easy to put on.

"Jump."