Guest Photographer: The Girls

Hazel's eight month birthday was Saturday.  I was in Naples,
so daughter Susie sent a photograph to make me feel like I was there.

And Ridgefield, Connecticut, has an annual Halloween Walk down Main Street.  

Willa wanted to be a dinosaur, so Susie modified a green sweatshirt.

Hazel can't pick her own costume yet, so Susie chose for her.  Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Complete with gavel.  Susie favors strong women.  Willa was Rosie the Riveter at Hazel's age.

Faces in the Crowd at the Stone Crab Festival

Wearing my New England Patriots shirt on game day at Tin City's annual Stone Crab Festival 

was a good way to get people to call to me and volunteer for photographs.

Clem does some cowboy gigs.

 Jean lives with her son on Martha's Vineyard in the summer and in Naples in the winter.

They are Zig Zag Girlz who deal blackjack at a nearby Indian casino.  I had to study their chests
carefully to read the names on the name tags.  Arline and Chivonne.  You're welcome.

Surveying Irma

I got back to Naples Thursday night, two weeks later than usual.  So, Friday I walked around to see how things look six weeks after Hurricane Irma raced through Naples on September 10.

In general, my North Naples neighborhood looks better than I expected.  Sure, there are still occasional leaning trees and lots of broken branches, but most damaged trees
in residential areas have been cut down or staked upright.

The debris is not along streets or on lawns.  It is stacked up in out-of-sight working areas,
waiting to be cut or chipped into smaller pieces or mulch and trucked away.



The pool cages on some houses got mangled.



And some houses had roof damage and are waiting for insurance settlements and/or available roofers.



Some had both roof and pool cage damage, but those are not common in my neighborhood.



Quote a few street lights and road signs bit the dust.  In a median strip off Route 41 (Tamiami Trail),
the conventional street signs and an old-fashioned stucco sign both went down.
The conventional signs will be standing soon, but I doubt anyone
wants to pay to restore the old-fashioned stucco sign.

My house is fine.  My worst problem is that the door on my mailbox keeps flopping open.  Lucky me.

Eno Memorial Hall

Eno Memorial Hall was given to the Town of Simsbury by Antoinette Eno Wood,
a descendant of some Simsbury founders.  It opened in 1932.

Today it is used as a senior center, the offices 

of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a meeting venue.

A Stolen Idea

My friend Deb has created The Front Door Project to show off front doors of houses she likes.

On Facebook a week or two ago she showed a prototypical West Hartford red brick Tudor house.  

It is a common style around here.  The distinctive feature was a surprising apple green door.

I was driving down the Boulevard and saw it.  So, I stopped and took the same picture as Deb.

Don't they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?

Weston Golf Club

I played very little golf this summer.  On Sunday I got the opportunity to travel up to Weston, Massachusetts, to play a round at Weston Golf Club with two longtime friends.

Country Roads

"Country Roads" is a bit of artistic license.  I was driving the roads just the other side of Avon Mountain, which divides the Connecticut River Valley (Hartford, West Hartford) from the Farmington River Valley (Farmington, Avon, Simsbury).  Suburbs.  But, it felt like the country.

Waterville Road, Avon

Nod Road, Avon

East Weatogue Road, Simsbury

Warrup's Farm, Redding, Connecticut

Pumpkins.  Gourds.  Indian corn.  Apples and cider.  Maple syrup.  Barnyard animals.

Kayaking

Lake Naraneka, Ridgefield.

Good Morning, Connecticut

A nice view on a late October morning.

Faces in the Center

I carried my camera in West Hartford Center.

Mary was having a professional "branding" portrait photograph made as she sat outside Treva.

Like many photographers, Heather doesn't like having her own photograph taken. 

I like it when an outgoing person sees my camera and "volunteers" to be photographed.

Dave is a funny guy who refuses to give honest answers to questions.

"Q:  What did you do for a living?"  "A:  I was a criminal."

OK.

Bill is Dave's more serious friend, a retired lawyer. 

You can make your own joke about lawyers and criminals.

Big House

Driving in Farmington, I caught a glimpse of this place over my shoulder, so I doubled back.

Not sure what I would do with all of the rooms.

Visit Weekend Reflections for more photos with reflections.

Halloween at the Pond House Cafe

The operators of the Pond House Cafe in Elizabeth Park have quite a fondness for Halloween.

Every year they add more skeletons and tombstones to their displays.

This year they have a big cemetery between the restaurant and the pond.  The tombstones have puns like "Doug Graves," "Clara Voyant" and "Dee Cayed."  It is their business, of course,
but I wonder if all of the skeletons bring more diners into the restaurant.