Sunday 29 December 2013

Wild Trees - Part Deux

Another beautiful, lush tree.

But what type of tree is it?

A Banyan tree?  A palm tree?


This looks like a Banyan tree, or something like it.

But I see some palm fronds sticking out the top.

So there is also a palm tree in there.


From the other side, you can see the palm tree growing up and through the other tree.


Or actually, upon closer inspection, the other tree has grown up around the palm.

Almost smothering it.

I guess it's not just the gators and pythons that are aggressive down here.


Next door is a tree with some unsightly growth.

And probably just before a big date.

Looks like cactus that grew up the trunk.


Or, down from the top.

Regardless which way, it keeps the city workers busy cutting them down.


Down the street, another cohabiting pair of trees.


They look happy enough.

Alright, this is too much work.



 And I don't want to get in trouble.


And what is this wasn't true?

The world would be a pretty lonely place......

Monday 23 December 2013

Knowing Your Customers

And in south Florida, there is lots of competition for these customers......

Friday 20 December 2013

I Appreciate The Effort......


...but hope Sally Ann isn't spending too much money on credit card verification.

Unless the guys who are lifting credit card information have changed since I was a boy.

"Hey Louie!  I got the card info.  So let's make some donations!!"

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Holy Crap!

I hope that's not what I think it is......


Holy crap, it is!

A Hammerhead shark.  Right where I was walking.

Is he looking at me?  They say the eyes follow you everywhere.


Holy crap, he is!

"Why don't you just come a little closer, there, City Boy. Chomp, chomp..."

Now in case you think I'm getting worked up over nothing, this guy was huge!


What?   Still not impressed?



Huge!



Still not impressed?

Oh....Photoshop crashed.....



Monday 16 December 2013

I'll Take Two!

37 foot Boston Whaler for a cool half-mil.

But these guys have a lot to learn from car dealers.

Wouldn't let me take it out for a test drive! 

So good luck selling this hunk a junk!


Saturday 14 December 2013

Good One!

Great practical joke. Wish I'd thought of it.

Some guys removed the channel markers from the channel!

I wish I could have stuck around long enough to see the faces of various boaters missing the channel and going on the rocks!

Good fun!

Okay.....they might have been preparing to dredge the channel.

But until they finish....good luck, matey!

Thursday 12 December 2013

Saturday 30 November 2013

I Knew Things Were Old In Florida......

But this is something else.

These are two beautiful, very old, Banyan tress.


 When you get up close, they really are works of art.


Now most of what you see here are called aerial roots.


And that's all I know. 

So now with some assistance from my friend Mr. Wikipedia; "the aerial roots grow down and around the stem of the host, their growth accelerating once the ground has been reached.

Over time, the roots coalesce to form a pseudotrunk, which may give the appearance that it is strangling the host."


"They grow into thick woody trunks which, with age, can become indistinguishable from the main trunk."



"The original support tree can sometimes die, so that the banyan becomes a "columnar tree" with a hollow central core".  

Especially on an old tree like this.


Beautiful, but I wouldn't want to be caught out late at night underneath one of these.

They look as if they should be throwing apples at Dorothy.




But from a distance, they look like just two ordinary trees.

Ordinary, that is, until you get close.  And the sun goes down........

Thursday 28 November 2013

Only In Florida...




"Those gall durn, young 70 year olds are always terrorizing everyone!"


Tuesday 26 November 2013

Oh My Lord!

A fitting tribute to the First Baptist Church of Naples.

It was their place of worship from 1923 (just about the beginning of Naples) until 1998. 

It has been vacant since that time.

But so that history is not lost, another fitting tribute to honour all things Baptist is now in place.

Oh Sweet Jesus!
They turned it into a bar!  (And restaurant.)

Now they've tried to disguise it with the fluffy name "The Chapel Grill".

But there's only going to be one thing grilling in there - your soul!


And to compound it.....

Happy Hour?!

Drinks?!

Music!?

But not the music they are used to, I expect.

It's actually very nice in there.

If you go, you'll find a well appointed bar, big screen TV and a large enclosed air conditioned seating area.

But enjoy that A/C while you can - because there won't be any where you are going!

So see you there!

[Ed. note: I think we know which one.]


Monday 25 November 2013

Finally, The True Story About Him


Gawker wasn't able to get "the video"!

Either was the Toronto Star!

But my source - and Big Joe, don't worry, your name will remain confidential - somehow unearthed this!

So enjoy a sneak peak of........



(Uhh....click on "Rob Ford - The Movie", not the picture.)

Friday 22 November 2013

Different Town - Same Result

Progress is everywhere!

Apparently no matter where you go.

So what likely used to be.....


Will soon be.......
Now, this certainly isn't as bad a some monster concrete and glass c-c-c-condo, but a lot of the charm of old time Florida is slowly - or in some cases, not so slowly - disappearing.

Of course, if you talk to an alligator or an Osprey, they might say even the old style charm is long gone as far as they're concerned.

Then one would bite your leg off and the other would poke your eyes out.  Now that's Florida!

Then you would stagger into a swamp and a poisonous Water Moccasin would bite you and thousands of malaria infected mosquitoes would also bite you.

A friend one told me that when most people think of Florida, they think of the little one mile strip all along the coast.  When in actual fact [Ed. note: as opposed to your normal made-up facts?]  99% of it is scrub brush and what I've just described.



Oh yeah, and recently, this like....
As Florida - well, the Everglades anyway - is being overrun with huge pythons.

Florida recently had a contest to try aned catch as many of these snakes as possible.  As they ere eating just about everything they come across.

1,500 "Python Hunters" signed up and the contest and it went for six months.

Result;  only 68 pythons captured.

The picture above being one of the 68.  It's claimed they said, "You should have seen the one that got away."

Regardless, I better get used to a lot less of.....



And a lot more of......


Which is still better than.....


And......