Tuesday, January 3, 2012

An Anachronism in Venice

I have Verizon's MiFi system to get online and to maintain this blog but I find it to be a very unreliable service.  I have been struggling with it from the beginning of this Odyssey.  After an hour of working on it and just as I get ready to save the latest, and usually the best, of my brain creations, the satellite connection will snap like some overstretched rubber band and I am left with a blank screen.  Everything is lost and I will have to start again. Can you hear me say, "Aw, Shucks!" Yeah, right.
   So I have taken to using other sources that are far more reliable and sometimes much more fun.  The best by far are the libraries in Junior colleges.  The college's wifi service is the fastest and it is always quiet and comfortable.  After-hours I will look for a Starbucks.  Their music selections are great, the coffee is okay and I really like the very-berry muffins.  They also have big comfy sofas and electricity--I will charge batteries, blog, and socialize all in one stop.   I avoid McDonald's, Burger Kings, IHOP's, DQ's etc because they don't have electricity available and ...well, you know why.  I have even pulled into a motel parking lot that advertises 'Free WiFi' and got right on line.  This is great when I need to quickly find directions to someplace and Elizabeth isn't coming through.

As I reached the town of Venice on the west coast of Florida I went looking for a library to download the photos from the last few days.  My first impression as I drove into town was, 'retirement haven'.  There were golf courses, gated communities, man-made lakes with shooting fountains, up-scale shopping centers,  and more golf courses.  After miles of this I pulled into the library parking lot and saw the above building right next door.  It was so out-of-sync with all the other homes, buildings, rolling green lawns and fancy fountains that I had to get another look.

I was surprised to see it was owned by the above architect.  I wonder how much business he gets, he goes so much against type.


Isn't that a forest of mother-in-law tongues?  I never knew those plants could get that tall.  And what is that on the roof?

Why, it's two rabbits and a gorilla!

It's a pink hippo in a swing!

Color was everywhere--some of it very appealing.

Even the water main cover was decorated.

I would have loved to look into that garden but there was a 'no trespassing' sign nearby.

As I went into the library I wondered about Mr. Fabbro--somehow I think I would have enjoyed meeting him.  Anyway, I left my card in his mailbox and he may be reading this blog someday.
"Hi, Mr. Fabbro, Good job!"

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful pictures! You always find such cool stuff to share :)

    I often write blog posts on a word processor program, then copy/paste into blogger when I'm ready. That way I can save and edit text until I'm satisfied with the wording.

    I like the idea about leaving a card. I've been kicking around the idea of having cards made up for my own blog but haven't quite committed yet. Can you post a picture of your card? Or e-mail me so I can get some ideas?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete