Chicago Bike Patrol in Training

I love just about every form of photography.  Candid street photography is especially enjoyable since I like wandering impulsively with the camera at the ready.  I never know what might turn up.

Buskers and Bike Police.  Add a few thousand tourists to this scene and the summer picture will be complete.

Every city has spring rituals.  Chicago will be mobbed by tourists from all over the world in the summer months.  There is much to be done to prepare for the onslaught and make the city look its best. I'm accustomed to visiting in April and early May when the landscaping crews are doing their thing.  Crews are pressure washing the sidewalks and scraping up old gum.  If you look up, you'll see swing stages as skyscrapers are cleaned and maintained.

As I walked along Michigan Avenue last week, I saw something new:  a fleet of Chicago's finest preparing for high season bike patrols.

Those are tulips in the island between the Wrigley and Tribune buildings.  Chicago had a really mild winter.

While I've seen a few officers on scooters and horses, most get around the Magnificent Mile on foot or on bike.  Of course, they need conditioning and training.

Only a tourist or photographer would even notice a pack of police on mountain bikes.  The average urban dweller prides himself/herself on staying focused.

Taken with a Panasonic NEX-3 with the kit lens.

Off they go!  I'm pretty sure their next stop would have been Millennium Park.  I'll be back in Chicago for a trade association meeting in a few weeks.  We'll see what shows up in front of my wandering camera.

 

Travels with Trollie

Gators can only wish they were as attractive as Trollie.

Trollie loves elaborate desserts!

He has his eye on high class bling available in downtown Naples.

You might not have guessed that he is a friend to all children.

Soak him in vinegar for three days and he might soften up a bit.

Perhaps he could use a protector.  Yes, this is all downtown Naples.

Um. some coffee just isn't drinkable.

"Poor gator!", my wife replied upon receiving a text with this image.

He looks right at home in the Big Cypress Preserve.

Strangler figs  are pretty tricky.

Please excuse the margins of Typecast Part 2.  In true Florida style, it has more than a few hanging chads.

Yes, the heading should read "Swamp Lair" as opposed to "Swap Lair".  This is one of the joys of typecasting.  This one comes courtesy of the Royal Futura 800.  Saying it is cursive would be redundant if it weren't for the existence of search engines.

So Part 2 of the typecast sounded a bit extreme.  I think the proprietor was in the process of selling the handgun in question to a fellow enthusiast.  Sure, this was happening less than 100 feet away from a busy state highway that passes through the Everglades National Park.  The right to bear arms does not take a break for traffic; not in this part of America anyway.

I have to say that it was an impressive gun.  On the first loud and low pitched shot, I thought it might have been a muzzle loader.  Nope, just Dirty Harry grade large caliber fun!

I regret not capturing an image of the fake tourist family surrounding the 40 foot panther but I suspected the shooter was not the type that liked having his picture taken by strangers.  Here is the really strange part:  I have driven this road roughly a dozen times and only now noticed these impressive sculptures.  I do a lot of photography and am pretty observant.  If I did not have photographic evidence of Trollie and the Skunk Ape, I might have been concerned about my sanity.

It occurred to me later that covering a giant panther with camouflage netting overnight is a practical approach.  It's a pretty valuable piece of property that needs protection from aerial observation what with all those UFOs and U.N. black helicopters cruising above the swamps.

Trollie and the roadside Skunk Ape.  You only think your eyes are playing tricks on you.

Imagine yourself inside this store and taking this photo when the gunfire starts.  Yeah, it was a surreal experience, but I try not to be an average tourist.  Honestly, it didn't freak me out since I was in new experience mode.  I would have been more concerned in an urban setting.

A haven for outdoors types and rugged individuals.  This is on the loop road to the south of Tamiami Trail.

 I don't want to leave a bad impression, so here is the other real Florida.  The guided swamp walk through a slough in the Fakahatchee Strand was awesome!  Except for the dried out pools, this is all part a really wide and shallow running river.  The water is clear and cold with nary a gator or venomous snake to be seen.  In the deeper water the mosquitoes were surprisingly scarce.  I still put on 100% DEET to be on the safe side.

Merry Christmas from all of us!