Bosom buddies

How is that for egalitarianism? Jaguar XJSC rubs elbows...er...spokes with the bikes at the Country Club parking lot.

"Take most people, they're crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer. I don't even like old cars. I mean they don't even interest me. I'd rather have a goddamn horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake."

~J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye

Leafy assignation

I told you about our community canoe launch in a previous post. Yesterday was a prince of a day - sunny and warm with just a hint of a breeze - perfect conditions for some paddling down the river. Just keep in mind that eventually, you'll have to paddle back...up the river, against the current :-(

"There's nothing . . . absolutely nothing . . . half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats." Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Footloose

Out for a stroll, looking for a snack, not thinking about her place in the universe. Just another day in the life of a seagull. Jealous? You bet I am!

"Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight
- how to get from shore to food and back again.
For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating."

Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Recharging

There are days when life seems to suck the last breath out of you and leave you flat and uninspired. Today is one of those days, so I'll just sit here quietly contemplating nature on our pond and longing for the simpler days - won't you join me?

"Take me away to those golden days,
Of ice creams and dreams, sandcastles and games.
Lay me down on strands of green grass,
Where dragonflies fly and grasshoppers dance.
Lower me into water so cool,
So clear and so blue.
Take me back to those golden days,
When I first felt that breeze and watched those waves."

Luke Jacobs

Conflict

This is a re-enactment of the famous Battle of Bird River. The Blackbird troops are seen taunting the Whitebirds just before battle erupted. As history has told us, the results were a near disaster for birds of all feathers...

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent." Issac Asimov

Handicap

Do you play golf? I do not. Aside from having environmental concerns (the destruction of wetlands and water polluting with landscaping chemicals), I just don't have the patience for it. But I live in a golfing community (as does 90% of Naples residents) and to most, it is a religion - they dream, talk and breathe golf (especially the men).
As the popular saying around here goes: "When I die, bury me on the golf course so my husband will visit."; -)

(BTW - J.R.R. Tolkien said that golf originated from hobbits, after Bullroarer Took knocked the goblin king Golfimbul's head off with a wooden club, sending it down a rabbit hole thus winning the battle and inventing golf at the same time.)

Quiz Tuesday part 10

Since I've discovered your weak spot - grossly lacking in botanical knowledge ;-) - I am planning to exploit it to the max! So here's a picture of a divine bush which is striking in more ways than one (hint!).

Today's question is: can you name this bush/tree?

Alcove

Psssst...Can you keep a secret? This is my very special place, at the end of the boardwalk, on the edge of Spring Creek. It is half-hidden and undiscovered by most, which allows me to claim it as my own for all the bird and wildlife watching. Some of my nature photos are taken from this spot...

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essentail facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau

Super sweet

Today is Super Bowl Sunday (for my foreign visitors - think the final match in the Coupe du Monde ;-). I have nothing football related to mark this occasion, but I just learned that today is second only to Thanksgiving in food consumption for Americans.

Thus this photo of the Serious Cookie booth in Tin City, Naples. The lady in the window has been baking them for 17 years and - according to her - only ate one so far (yeah, right!). Each decadent cookie weighs 1/2 pound, costs $5 and you can choose from double chocolate chip, double chocolate chip with macadamia nuts, double chocolate chip with pecans and macadamia nuts...I think you get the idea.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot: GO BEARS!

Liquid pursuit

This photo of a turtle chasing a fish in our pond reminds me of an Aboriginal Canadian artist
Norval Morrissau. I love the vibrant colors he uses to illustrate the ancient legends of the Ojibwa people.

This poster "Turtle, fish, frog, birds" represents a scene from one of the Anishinaabe creation stories where the turtles bring up enough mud on their backs from the ocean floor to create the Turtle Island.

So what story does my photo tell? "Tag, you're it!" perhaps...

Divine

This statue of a goddess adorns the entrance to J. Semmler International Collections, an interior decorating store in downtown Naples.

I find this post most appriopriate for today, since I threw out my back and will be spending this week-end in a similiar position :-(

Hope your plans for the week-end are more vertical!

Theme day - what annoys you about your city?

Well, wouldn’t you be annoyed to be strolling on a well traveled pathway and have a snake emerge from the ground in front of you? I know, it’s just a rat snake (so as long as you're not a rat, you should be OK ;-), but jeez….

Welcome to the flip side of Paradise ;-)