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.

Tacos

 I'm glad to see another fast food shop trying to make a go of this old Dairy Queen store on Route 41.

Over the past few years, one store after another has tried.  Ice cream.  Hot dogs.  Burgers. Wings.  Shakes.  Who knows . . . maybe tacos will be the one that succeeds.

Kinsale Golf Club

Kinsale Golf Club is a new golf club being built in Naples.  It is a mile south of me, across the street from Kalea Bay (shown yesterday), and by the same developer.  To create the golf course, they tore up a big forested preserve that the developer had previously committed to leave in a "forever wild" state.

 The clubhouse might fit in with Dutch architecture, but it sure doesn't fit in with southwest Florida. 

 For a $450,000 initiation fee and $26,500 annual golf dues, this is what you get.  

Kalea Bay

Kalea Bay is a mile south of me in Naples.  They are now completing their fifth and final condo tower, each of which has 22 floors.

No one really lives here full-time.  Most buyers are wealthy young people from up north who fly in for occasional long weekends.  The cheapest unit in the final tower starts at $3.5 million.  Kalea Bay is an advertisement for the problem of income inequality in this country.

 

Alfred Robbins Luxury Real Estate

 I had to do some clever navigation to get behind this tourist trolley in time for the traffic lights to turn red so I could take a few photographs.

I had never heard of Alfred Robbins.  But I must admit, it is a pretty good advertisement.

The vehicle is owned by the Hoffman Group of Companies, another Naples business that has its tentacles in high end real estate and numerous other businesses.

Go Away!

 

They are not all friendly down here.

Merry Christmas!

We are just days into November, but holiday decorations are already up?

Everyone decorates for the holidays, but businesses and homeowners associations don't do it themselves.  They turn to third party contractors.  I guess the one this community uses is booked up later.

The Waiting Room

 

A Wedge of Egrets

Anyone who spends time in nature has seen groups of birds flying up and around. 

These images show a bunch of snowy egrets as they flew above and around me for a couple of minutes.

The group names for birds amuse me.

A bunch of egrets is called various names.  I like "wedge" best, but they are also called a  "congregation," a "skewer," a "siege," and a "sedge."

There were more snowy egrets up there.  I cropped to keep the group tight.

A "wedge" of egrets is most often used to describe egrets flying in a formation, so I'll use it today.

Breakfast

It's not my fault.  I didn't choose "breakfast" as the November theme for City Daily Photo participants.

Halloween

 

Life-sized characters are placed around Bonita Springs' Riverside Park for Halloween.

If I were more attuned to contemporary culture, maybe I would recognize them.

Many Bonita Springs stores are also decorated for Halloween. Huge skeletons are popular, but I didn't like more of my skeleton photographs, so I deleted them.

A Good Reminder

 

We had dinner at friends' house on Sunday.  We arrived at six o'clock and left at 8:57 p.m.

Fifth Avenue South

 On Monday I saw some excellent black and white photographs at Naples Art.  I showed them yesterday.

Those black and white photos got me in the mood to try some of my own.

These are white buildings with black details and white cars in front.  Didn't take much to convert it.

Shawn was waiting on a bench while his wife was shopping.  He is a retired carpenter.

Restaurants are quiet midday on Mondays.  This alley was set for dinner guests.

Sugden Theater sits between several restaurants.

The interiors of a row of stores are being demolished.

Sorry, but I didn't note the sculptor of this interesting figure.

James Prior

 Naples Art's current exhibition shows works by local artists.  A fine arts photographer, James Prior, exhibited images made on New York subways.  His exhibition is called Life Beneath the Ruins.

I always have a hard time deciding the right way to show another photographer's work.

If I show the whole work, it feels like I am appropriating it, even if I credit the photographer.

More often I will just show part of the image, which is what I have done here.  That isn't how the photographer intended to show his work, but at least it doesn't feel like I am stealing the work.

And, in a way it creates a new work.  What do you do?

Game Day

 A Naples friend dresses a skeleton to support her teams on Game Day.  Crimson-and-white with IU on Saturday for Indiana University, blue-and-white with a horseshoe on Sunday for the Indianapolis Colts.

My alma mater wasn't much of a threat in intercollegiate sports.  But, I grew up in Eastern Massachusetts so I cheer for the Boston Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins and New England Patriots.  

For college sports, I adopt teams from places I have lived: the UConn Huskies and Ohio State Buckeyes.  Ohio State's football team is ranked #1 nationally and my friend's Indiana Hoosiers are #2.  OSU and IU don't play each other this fall.  If both get to the Big Ten championship and later to the national championship game, my friend and I won't be talking for a while.

Cars and License Plates

 

I admire fancy cars, and I like clever license plates.

I wish I saw the owner.  if s/he has a big belly, it would be worth a good laugh.

Good one.

A glistening silver Bentley.  Did I wait until the attractive blonde woman was in the frame?  Maybe.

The woman from the previous photo laughed when she and I both started to photograph this white Maserati.  She said her father had just bought a Maserati.  (My father's fanciest car was a Chevy.)