Green Wall at Longwood Gardens

The monthly theme for City Daily Photo bloggers on March 1 is "green."

That called to mind the plant walls I saw in 2014 in Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania..

I hope to see lots of interesting green photos tomorrow.

Tattoos

Kit is a quiet young woman, who likes writing and drawing and is drawn to Japanese culture.
She shaves one side of her head and dies the other side purple.  And, she has begun
a collection of tattoos on her forearms, with a Japanese bunny on one side 

and characters from a Japanese story on the other.

Sabrina is camera shy, but she let me photograph her heavily tattooed arms.  She is German and has lived in Fort Myers for two years, though she previously visited Cape Coral regularly for 26 years.

People usually tell me there is a story behind each tattoo.  This artist just liked the designs.
Don David, a glass and silver artist, at the Naples National Art Fair.

Nice Eyes

The figure at Grandma Dot's on Sanibel Island has nice eyes.

It is my story and Im sticking to it.

Benson's Grocery

A colorful mural about Bonita Springs and Southwest Florida on Benson's Grocery.

Monday Mural.

Coyote

A coyote in the Naples Zoo.  The hints of a diamond pattern are from
shooting through a chain link fence.

Cheetah

It is not easy photographing zoo animals in caged enclosures.  

I thought the Naples Zoo's cheetah came out pretty well.

Washed Ashore

The Naples Zoo is exhibiting huge fish and other marine life made from plastic rescued from the sea.

Washed Ashore builds and exhibits aesthetically powerful art to educate a global audience about plastic pollution in oceans and waterways and spark positive changes in consumer habits.

Tennis

The club tennis pros around here have a league, the Naples Pro League, which held matches in my community.  Our pro and his partner won the match that I watched. 

Hibiscus

Up close.

Koi

The Butterfly Estates had koi, too.

Butterfly Murals

This colorful mural was beside the glasshouse-like buildings of the Butterfly Estates.

Others lined a fence.

Like murals?  See more in Monday Mural.

The Butterfly Estates

I recently visited The Butterfly Estates in Fort Myers, a nonprofit devoted to preserving butterflies native to Florida.  A volunteer released day-old butterflies.

A monarch being released.

The underside of a giant swallowtail.

The back of a giant swallowtail.

A zebra longwing, the most common butterfly in southwest Florida.

And, a monarch hovering beside milkweed, a monarch's only host plant.

Middle School Perimeter Fence

It is sad that a middle school needs to have complete perimeter fencing in the middle of
what should be an extremely safe neighborhood and community.

Rainy Day

On a rainy day, brunch with friends at Jane's Cafe is called for, even if we have to sit inside.

Happy Valentine's Day

If it is Valentine's Day, it must be time to visit Norman Love again.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Erica

Both of Erica's arms are covered by tattoos.  The tattoo on her left shoulder is a dancer because she is a dancer.  The one on her right forearm is based on the Wizard of Oz.  A third is a timepiece. And . . .

A Man in a Straw Hat

The cars at Cars on Fifth were polished within an inch of their lives.

I couldn't resist the temptation to look for reflections.

Cars on Fifth

On Saturday, Naples' main street was closed.  Hundreds of exquisite and expensive cars rolled in.

It was the sixteenth annual "Cars on Fifth."  It has become so popular that the previously free event now charged $20 per person.  Despite that, it was mobbed!

I can't imagine the event can be continued.  Hundreds of expensive cars at risk of being scratched or worse.  Too crowded to admire specific cars without interference.

Time to move it to a stadium or other larger venue.

Bonita Springs National Art Festival

Another outdoor art festival is being held this weekend.  This one is billed as one of the best, 

though that seemed overblown to me. 

 Instead of focusing on individual artists as I usually do,

I decided to focus more on the over-all ambience.

OK.  Maybe one artist.  Do you blame me?

OK.  Two.   Billie Barthelmy, hiding in the corner. 

Muspa

The Muspa were a small group of indigenous people who coexisted with the larger Calusa tribe in the centuries leading to the arrival of Europeans.  Muspa lived in what is now Marco Island.  Like the Calusa, they subsisted on fishing and clamming and they made solid ground from shells.

Like the Calusa, the Muspa favored body painting and using shells in weapons.

Calusa Warrior

Much of the land occupied by the Calusa in southwest Florida was shell mounds.

Warriors fashioned weapons from wood and shells.

Body paint was important; Calusa means "fierce people."

Shaman

The Marco Island Historical Museum has a wonderful display about the Calusa people who inhabited this area before Europeans arrived.  The Calusa were spiritual people, and their spiritual leader 

was the shaman, who made a daily offering to their gods.