St. Thomas Seminary

 

Two large building share the campus of St. Thomas Seminary.  This Catholic Church is Christ the King Church.  It was once a Jesuit seminary, and over the years has had different names and functions.

This building on the same campus is called St. Ignatius Retreat House.  It began as a country home for a wealthy New York couple who named it Wylurup.  At another time it was a school and another time was a resort lodge.  It is now owned by a very conservative Catholic order.

The most jaw-droppsing incarnation was in the late 1930s, when it was bought by George Scalise, a New York mobster.  Scalise's prosecution by Thomas Dewey helped to raise Dewey's profile on the way to becoming governor of New York and later a Republican candidate to become President. 

The Aldrich

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is on Ridgefield's Main Street.  There is always a sculptural work on the front lawn.  I didn't care for the one that was there all summer, but I think the current work with two colorful circles is much more interesting.

This is Portal: Hope as Practice, a 2025 work by Kristy Hughes of Waxahachie, Texas.  It incorporates reclaimed materials and concealed elements; poems and gifted and found objects are buried inside.

While I was looking at it, an Aldrich employee walked past and told me that it is made from the same material as paddleboards.

Lots of exhibitions are currently advertised at the Aldrich.  I should visit before going back to Florida.

Turkey Trot 2025

Every Thanksgiving morning the Turkey Trot 5K takes place in Ridgefield.  About 1500 runners registered this year.

At the halfway point, these two had separated from the pack.  The man on the left eventually came in first and the man on the right was second.

The three bananas always run.  Why?  I don't know.

This man has carried an American flag the past few years.

Every year more runners wear turkey garb.

I saw at least two dozen dogs running.

These two always walk near the end of the race.

Happy Thanksgiving

One of these days I will look up why we Americans associate the Thanksgiving holiday with turkeys. 

 I'll bet AI would tell me, but I don't completely trust anything artificial intelligence produces.

(This is a turkey I came across a couple of years ago in North Salem, New York.)

I'm sure not going to break a holiday tradition like eating delicious turkey, even if I don't know why I am doing it.  This is from our 2018 Thanksgiving dinner with the daughter's family.

I remember this amazing 2011 turkey.  Must have been the daughter's idea.

Like so many things, the American artist Norman Rockwell nailed the idea of Thanksgiving with this cover for the Saturday Evening Post.  We saw the original a couple of years ago at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

A prominent New Yorker cartoonist lives in Ridgefield.  Her husband decorates their yard for the holidays.  I hear it is a very popular place for the town's kids on Halloween, but I am never here then.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE IT! 

Lounsbury House

I'm back in Ridgefield, Connecticut, for Thanksgiving week.  Time for some of my occasional photos of Lounsbury House, this time in the evening.

On Tuesday the annual "Pardoning of the Turkey" event was held in front of Lounsbury House.  

I forgot.  Bummed.

Ospreys

 I paired photographs of two ospreys.  Females wear necklaces (right).  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.