Ospreys

 I paired photographs of two ospreys.  Females wear necklaces (right), while males do not.

Back to Connecticut for Thanksgiving.

Women

 

The folks who run a bail bond business in Fort Myers like women.

Linked to Monday Murals.

Blooms

 I am a New Englander.  I don't associate November with blooms.

But in Florida . . .

Call Joe! Call Joe! Call Joe!

 We are all deluged with lawyer advertisements on radio, television and billboards.

Joe North is a Fort Myers personal injury lawyer.  He advertises heavily on the mainstream radio station I listen to.  His ads have a strong rap beat.  No idea if Joe is a good lawyer, but I like the ads. CALL JOE!

Fort Myers

 I walked around the Fort Myers downtown.

A bright red car always stands out.

The Franklin Shops are in a 1937 building that counts as historic in southwest Florida.  It is a two story shopping emporium with a retail mix of jewelry, fashion, art work, furnishings, accessories and gifts.

One block is very colorful.

Just one block away, gray predominates.  Palm trees provide the only color.

An old yellow building holds up one street corner.

A yellow building at Capone's pizza shop and another red car combine two eye-catching features.

Extras

 Some more images that didn't get a post of their own.

Autumn in Florida.

Broken nose.

Coming and going.

Miscellany

Sometimes I have a bunch of photos that can't fight their way into a post of their own.

An albino pigeon.

Remembering Steven Daniel Romero.

The drain cover has the same message, but the painted curb is louder.

There are scooters for rental all around Fort Myers.

Look Ma, no hands!

 "Countdown to Extinction," a 1988 statue by D. J. Williams in Fort Myers.  There are only about 200 remaining Florida panthers in the wild.  Between habitat loss and automobiles, we are killing them off.

Leoma

 Six months ago I posted about the death of Leoma Lovejoy, a popular local artist known for her effervescent personality and her vibrant, colorful paintings.  I recently walked past her Fort Myers gallery and went inside.

Leoma was known for her big sunglasses, her splashy painting style, and her love of the Beatles.  She had a brightly painted trailer at her former Matlacha gallery.  It is now inside the Fort Myers gallery.

"I heard the news today, Oh boy."

My days for acquiring art are probably over.  If not, I would have loved to have this sea turtle.

Birds and Other Creatures

My Naples community is an Audubon Certified Sanctuary.  I spend some of my time wandering the place with my camera. 

An osprey shook its wings after returning from the water.

Mockingbirds are common, but they deserve some attention, too, don't they?

A roseate spoonbill yawned.

Then it flew over to the opposite railing.

Four ibises flew over me.

Maybe it was rude of me to capture an intimate moment for two dragonflies.

A black vulture couple shared some quiet time.

An alert gator.

Green Hair and Tattoos

 A man was photographing a heavily tattooed woman with green hair.  When the man was finished. I asked the woman if I could also take some photos of her. 

After a couple of quick photographs, I asked the man what his pics were for.  "We just got married," he said.  I nearly fell over.  The man had short gray hair, no apparent tattoos, a white shirt and tie and neat dark pants.  He looked like a banker on his lunch hour.  

We never know, do we?

Lyla

An attractive young woman was walking her dog near the Fort Myers waterfront.  

Naturally, I asked if I could photograph her.

Lyla is tall and thin, with legs that go on and on.  She had a modeling contract for three years but walked away from it.  These days Lyla only does occasional runway work.

Twins

Posted in Weekend Reflections.

Black and White

But not really black and white.  Looking down from the second floor at the outdoor dining area of Ridgway Bar and Grill on 13th Avenue South in Naples. 

Books on Third

Naples has a new independent bookstore, Books on Third.  It is on the second floor, above a popular and busy restaurant on Third Street South.  I like independent bookstores and try to support them, but I thought this would be a difficult location to survive.  I was very pleased to see that Books on Third is well stocked and had lots of visitors on an otherwise quiet midweek morning.

They have a big area for children's books, including an array of girls' fantasy costumes to keep the girls entertained while Mom shops for books.

 In another area, comfortable seating was offered.  This area had numerous mouthwatering travel books and photography books.  Needless to say, I spent some time here.  

I hope this store is a success.  They will have to overcome the triple problems of a difficult location, expensive inventory, and a city population that empties out in the summer.

Veterans Day

 Today is Veterans Day, when America honors those who served their country.

The Veterans Memorial Park in Cape Coral has numerous monuments honoring soldiers and sailors.  

None is bigger or more impressive than Iwo Jima Monument, celebrating a 1945 flag raising on a Japanese island in World War II.  It is adapted from a famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal.

A bit further away a soldier and a child salute veterans.

Dennis Goodman Gallery

Dennis Goodman is a fine arts photographer with a gallery in the arts district at the edge of Olde Naples.  He focuses on large scale images of wildlife and seashore scenes.  I see Dennis often at the outdoor art shows in southwest Florida.   I photographed this through the window when his gallery was closed.