Up North For the Holidays

 Back to Connecticut for the holidays.

I had a window seat on the plane flying out of Regional Southwest Airport in Fort Myers.

Very soon the plane passed over the house I owned in Fort Myers from 2007 to 2012.

Throughout Florida the clouds were in long lines.  You need someone else to explain that phenomenon.

By the time we got to Pennsylvania, we were over a big snow system headed to New England.  We were in a race to see if we would get to Connecticut before snow arrived.

Our plane beat the heavy snow.  The early snow went north and west of us.  

A few inches fell overnight in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Farmers Market

 The Coconut Point Mall in Estero hosts a farmers market on Thursdays.

I stopped briefly last Thursday.  As did a group from a bicycle club, who were right in front of me no matter where I went.

Winnie

 

I was sitting and reading in Starbucks a few days ago.  Looking up, a face was familiar.  It was Winnie, a woman who I used to see at a different Starbucks quite a few years ago.  Winnie is from Mexico and makes some of the jewelry she wears, like the colorful necklace above.

This is Winnie from 2016.

And this is Winnie from 2015.

The photograph this week was a quick one done with my iPhone, while the earlier ones were done more carefully and with a DSLR camera.  Some iPhone portraits are quite good, but I like these old ones with a DSLR (and more time and care) better.

Palm Cottage

 

Looking through a gate and arbor toward Palm Cottage, Naples' oldest house, built in 1895.

The Guard

 An exhibition at the Baker Museum in Artis-Naples includes a big metal sphere with lights and music.

I went inside the sphere but wasn't overwhelmed.  But the view of the security guard was interesting.

I must return sometime and get a proper portrait.

Third Street South

 

It is Christmas on one of the two main shopping streets in Naples.

Just a Little Magic

Five young people operate a business in which they dress up like fantasy characters and perform at birthday parties.  They had a booth at a small holiday festival in Bonita Springs' Riverside Park.

Santa Paws

 Mr. and Mrs. Claus set up in front of a store on Third Avenue South to greet dogs and their owners.

Trees and Teas Festival.

 

Supporters decorated Christmas trees in Sugden Theater's lobby.

Vogue

 

She was at the intersection waiting for the light to change.

Christmas Tree

Friends have a Christmas tree covered with a terrific collection of figures.  These are just a few.

Everyone is Taking Pictures

 

So I took some, too.

Twirling

 

Entertainment at the Promenade in Bonita Springs.

Nutcrackers

 I've got a thing for nutcrackers.

Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Naples, Florida.

Also Naples, Florida.

Glen

Glen and his wife met in college, at Miami of Ohio.  Glen played football under Coach Bo Schembechler, who went on to a Hall of Fame coaching career at the University of Michigan.  

Glen played professional football for a short while with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He was a backup defensive end and a backup kicker.  After a concussion, he called his wife and told her it was time to come home.  Glen was a longtime teacher, coach and school administrator.

Hugh and Pam

I like talking with strangers.  Hugh and Pam walked past me wearing identical shirts.  I called out, "Who decides the color you are going to wear each day?'  They stopped and we talked.  Hugh and Pam are originally from Jamaica, have been in the States since 1990 and today are proudly U.S. citizens.  Both work in hospital administrative jobs.  Pam is introverted but Hugh is an extreme extrovert.

 

As I often do before or after taking a photograph, I said, "Tell me about yourselves."  Well!  I can tell you every place they have lived.  Everything about their four sons and many grandchildren.  (The first and last grandchildren are girls and the ones in the middle are boys, born April 1, May 2 and June 3 and they hope for another to be born on July 4.)  Such a nice couple.  Thanks for stopping.

A Cooperative Lion

 

Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow.

Neptune

Neptune welcomes Bayfront visitors.

Bayfront

Bayfront is a complex just east of Olde Naples.

Bird Buddy

 My favorite birthday present this summer was a Bird Buddy.  It holds birdseed and takes still photographs and videos of the birds that visit it, then sends them to my phone.  Here are some visitors last week.

A black-capped chickadee.

A tufted titmouse.

A blue jay.

I watched a pair of tufted titmouses, a pair of black-capped chickadees and a blue jay flying back and forth from a nearby crabapple tree to the Bird Buddy.  They like it as much as I do.  Probably more.