The Drawbridge Signal

Flying north for the week, will return to posting first week of January. Happy Holidays, everybody!

Found Photo Series, No. 4

Scanned ad from the program for the 1957 production of "Kiss Me Kate" by The Players of Sarasota.

Also:

• Found Photo Series, No. 3
• Found Photo Series, No. 2
• Found Photo Series, No. 1
  

At Coffee Pot Bayou, looking toward Snell Isle.

Lights at the Chateau France. Bonnes fêtes!

One of my favorite storefronts in St. Pete. Is it the lone green awning, the metal folding chair next to the door, or the older soda machine on the right that gives this building almost a rural charm? Along busy Fourth Street in the Gateway section.

Bada Bing

This tricked out VW adorns the parking lot at Mazzaro's.

Alley Door

Behind Central Avenue in St. Pete.

See also:

• Ybor City alleyway.
• 15.
  

Commercial laundry bins, 16th Street, St. Petersburg.

Dead tree in Sawgrass Lake Park, which was the site of some unbelievable photographic behavior in 2003.

Ground level shot,
Bay Vista Park
at low tide.

Tampa International Airport, early morning, from long-term parking, monorail to Airside F.

Today's haul from Mazzaro's (from top left):
A caprese stacker; braciola; fresh cheese ravioli; biscoti (cinnamon pecan and chocolate hazlenut); and a chocolate chip cannoli.

Morning Roll Call

Gulls near Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach at sunrise.

No doubt planning new ways to insinuate themselves around
the upcoming day's worth of packed lunches trucked in from beachgoers.

The Scenic Route

A pair of airboats taken last June at Myakka River State Park.

Found Photo Series,
No. 3

"Nat. Def. Photo by R.C.N."
It's not of the TB area, but somehow ended up in an antiques store in St. Pete. The photo stamp on the back is a large maple leaf bearing the words: "Nat. Def. Photograph Canada."

Also:

• Found Photo Series, No. 2
• Found Photo Series, No.1
  

Blue heron with sailboats
(Pass-a-Grille).

This Lizard Don't Leap

The other night—Halloween night to be exact—after I pulled onto the road, I noticed a long, dark, curved form on the hood of my car. I took it to be a leaf, until it lifted its head.

Heading towards the stoplight, I figured the lizard would leap off the car, but it stayed on and stood up even higher to survey the previously unknown world of Fourth Street N and the surrounding lights and clatter. It didn’t care much for the acceleration, laying flat against the hood, but once on Fourth it began to act like a dog in the back seat, ready to stick its head out the window. I actually became alarmed for the lizard and slowed down, letting others pass.

It rode to Super Gas, and then to the Gateway Publix. After exiting the grocery store, it was gone from the hood—instead it decided to complete the ride on the windshield, behind one of the wipers. Even after arriving home, it never bothered to get off.

A jogger's silhouette at sunset on the Friendship Trail Bridge.

Also:

• Palm silhouettes.
• Sunset panorama taken from Friendship Trail Bridge.
  

Booker Creek, the landscape feature that Roser Park was built around, reflects the tall palms that line it.

Apartment courtyard, downtown St. Pete.

Look up at the Spanish Moss--
Lake Seminole Park

Neighborhood Marker, St. Pete.

Controlled burn
at
Lake Seminole
Park.

Sunset at Riviera Bay, looking west.

Sculpture Garden

Clockwise (from top left): pipe over Booker Creek in Roser Park; statue behind Beach Drive; pipe over canal in Gateway; sand pattern.

Three bird houses, Roser Park.

Wall mural at Beaux Arts on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg.

The excellent sculpture--presumably made from scrap auto parts--at the city's Fleet Management department, along the northbound entrance ramp at 5th Avenue N and 275.

A screen capture of tbt*'s feature on local bloggies, which includes a side interview w/ Xeni at boingboing. Congratulations everybody!

A bloated victim of red tide, taken on July 3 by the rest area of the Sunshine Skyway. At the time I snapped this, I thought the offshore bloom would move on in a week a or two, but here we are more than two months later and the environmental effects persist.

A rare sight of late: the afternoon drive-time thunderstorm. This one in mid-Pinellas was taken in July. Also I did a zoom to check the prices of the Mobil board on the right side: another rare sight with Regular at $2.25.

Found Photo Series, No. 2

Found in St. Petersburg

Streetcar map, detail. At a pickup shelter in Ybor City.

"Closed Between Lunch and Dinner"--
Dori Thai Restaurant, St. Pete Beach.

Contemporary art over St. Petersburg: At Project Creo's Tide to the Vernacular exhibit.

Mural detail at La Union Marti-Maceo
in Ybor City.

Photo for the weekend and a barrel of rum: Pirate Ship, John's Pass.

Haslam's Bookstore Cat momentarily distracted from batting around a plastic bottle cap.

The Florida International Museum (Maas Brothers) before and after demolition. Photo at top was taken in February from the Baywalk garage. People still fondly remember the department store, but the contractor takes the demolition in stride.

SunTrust Financial Centre, downtown Tampa.

Along the seawall at Coffee Pot Bayou. 

Downtown Tampa's tinted sky. 

Found Photo Series
No. 1
Found in a Central Avenue antiques store.

Evening thunderstorm over the bay and visible from 4th Street. The unnatural light in the bottom right corner is from a street lamp.