Tums...anyone...Tums?

yeah...yeah...

rides, lights, demolition derby...

who are we kidding?

We all go to the fair

eat FAIR FOOD!

Bagel Dogs

  Cheap Refills of Diet Coke

 Candy Apples

 Elephants Ears

 Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

 Pretzels

 Twisty Fries

Sausages

I had an areapa, plantains and candied almonds.

I forgot to eat a funnel cake, deep fried Oreos, roasted corn, chicken on a stick, 

corndog, caramel apple, cotton candy, sno-cone,

gator nuggets (yea-we both know I was never going to eat those)

and...sadly...

no chocolate covered cheesecake vendor this year.

Maybe I will have to go back~

Wanna come along?

Demolition Derby Baby!

I don't care which small town in the South you find yourself in

if you wait long enough

there WILL be a Demolition Derby

and

it...will...be...AWESOME!

The fence is 6 feet high and I was trying to shoot through the fabric-

next time...and there will be a next time...

I will bring a ladder :)

And Now for Something Different

Spring Break this week...I did NOTHING! It was so amazing.

Clean a little house, laid by the sea, boated, ate, spent time will many of my favorite people...

I do not want to work tomorrow.

Last night was the Collier County Fair

First, the animals.

 Alpaca

 Bunny

 Camel

 Chicken

 Baby Goat

Bee

Okay...the goat is cute

But the rest...

They all looked right into my camera and said 

"BACK OFF ANNOYING HUMAN"

Ok...I am back :)

I have not posted since SEPTEMBER?  What is wrong with me?  Too many adventures I suppose!

Here are a few from this wekend

This kite flew all day without any one actually flying it...PERFECT WEATHER!

Up in the air with a friend

This is my new aspiration-

 "Well my friends back home think I've gone and lost my mind
Take a sip of rum and you really would know why
Jolly Roger flying on the picnic table
Blender in the kitchen, willin' and able
Don't know what makes you say "What the hell"
But when the salt air catches a hold of that sail
Something 'bout it makes her just wanna dance
And she loves to dance"

"I spent my whole life running around
Still let the wind kinda blow me around
...
And I traded it in for a whole 'nother world
Pirate flag and an island girl" 

well..an island anyway!

Thanks Kenny!

Just some pretty Florida flowers

in

the 

MIDDLE of winter!

Sorry Up North Friends-I had to!

Love~
Marlene

Thinking about the small things

They say "Don't sweat the small stuff", then they say "God is in the details".

I happen to think the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Sometimes the small stuff will kill you and some times the big stuff will crush you.

I really have no answer...

so I went looking for the little stuff on Sunday 

in a quest to understand the big picture.

There is a really cool place here in Naples called Freedom Park

It is a little bit of the swamp in the middle of town. 

 It is set up to handle the runoff water from several large nearby communities.

It uses nature to filter the water before sending it back out.

Boardwalks and paths run through 50 acres.  Truly amazing!

I went in search of God-the Details.  

The little things to awe and amaze me and 

remind me I am not all that in this giant puzzle

Just A Little Piece.

First-Flora and Fauna

 

Then Friends...or maybe "Frenemies"

After I got lost (seriously-I meant to stroll...but I came out 2 hours later)

I did feel better

Not great

I am still fighting "it"

but it will be all good...

I took a million pics, but my macro work is AWFUL and 

I really want a new camera!!!!!!

Working it out...

I was sad and anti-social this weekend.

I just couldn't shake it-it really is still sitting out there waiting. 

I REFUSE to allow it in, so I am working it out the only way I know how.

First, I went to God...

I really HATE when I get a message I need, you know...

This is the ceiling of my church. 

Then I went to the water...

 Poor unwanted umbrella...

  I was not finding any inspiration...

 This was all a father and son needed to be happy

This was all a father and daughter needed

I needed my son and daughter...

So I went to the pier to see what I could see

Kind of awesome

GORGEOUS weather

But it still wasn't right...

A New (old) Beach

When I first moved to Naples in 1981...um..YIKES...my favorite beach was Seagate. 

It was full of shells and not so full of people!

Now, it is just one long row of condos.  

It is very different up north than down south and I miss the old beach very much! 

I prefer my south end, which, despite soul-less mega-mansions, has a much more mellow feel. 

It was a wonderful walk down memory lane, though. 

Tonight was GORGEOUS and since it is still off season, the beach was fairly deserted 

but filled with people enjoying the beach.

A group sat on blankets with a young man strumming a guitar and singing.  

I have a feeling they were sending someone into the sea to spend eternity 

(which is exactly what I want as well).  

There were young people in kayaks, a dad and a kid on a paddle board, 

couple my age strolling had in hand (lucky!)

 Seaweed

 

 Beautiful Sunset

 I LOVE this gray green color-

I keep trying to find paint this color for my living room

 Rain in the Distance

Sea oats

I was very anti-social today.  I needed to be outside, but alone-so this was perfect!

I feel better and think I might grace the world with my presence tomorrow!