Friday, April 1, 2022

Art (and Sky) #AtoZChallenge #SkywatchFriday

Today is the first day of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, when hundreds of bloggers start April 1 with a post whose topic begins with "A".  Every day, except Sunday, we will blog - tomorrow, "B", Sunday off  (although I'll have a non A to Z post on Sundays), Monday, "C", Tuesday, "D", and so on.  Many A to Z's have a theme for the month of April.

I hope you like what I chose. "From Florida to Vermont With Stops In Between".  My theme is not one giving information about travel or tourism. I am simply sharing pictures I hope you like.

If you are new, or returning from last year's A to Z, or a regular reader, welcome!

I normally feature sky photos on Fridays, music on Mondays (sometimes Sundays, too), and participate in a "Wordless Wednesday" (although it's never wordless).  Therefore, on some days, like today, I will be participating in more than one meme.  Besides Blogging from A to Z, I join Yogi and other sky watching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.

I blogged this when I announced my theme:  "Now, in our most perilous of times, it is so easy to become depressed.  We must fight that urge.  It's so hard to believe in hope, but hope is what is going to keep us going.  It took me a while to find my theme for 2022.  I changed it several times."

I did a little more mind changing in the past three week and decided I will not take a straight line from Florida to Vermont.  I am going to hop around from place to place and not restrict myself to the East Coast. 

Besides the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I am also joining Yogi at Skywatch Friday for his every Friday meme.

So let's start with a sky picture taken yesterday where I live in New York State.   Then, a quick trip to Florida.

Now, art I found in Florida. These pictures were taken in January 2020, the last major trip spouse and I took before the pandemic closed in.

Sarasota, Florida (on the West Coast of Florida) has a yearly outdoor exhibition called The Fence.  This is a traveling photographic public art exhibition, free to the public.  I've seen it twice, in 2019 and 2020.


I was taken by this exhibition of cats.

Punta Gorda, further south on the West Coast of Florida, is justly proud of its mural and other artwork.  Some of these are along the Peace River, such as this manatee mural. 

One panel of a historic mural at the old Charlotte County Courthouse called "The Life and Times of George Brown".  George Brown was an African-American entrepreneur and you can read more about him here.  

The other part of the mural.

This building used to house The Blue Turtle Tavern and Raw Bar; I understand the business has been sold and has a new name.

I didn't come to Punta Gorda to study their murals, and if I get to return, I now know just how many murals this city features.

Not all of Punta Gorda's art is murals.  On a walk near a hotel on the Retta Esplanade, the lights were hidden in casts of various sea creatures.

A butterfly bench.

It's time to leave Florida so here's a statue called The Spirit of Punta Gorda.


On the way to Vermont, which will be my location for tomorrow, I captured gloomy skies and a line up of Canada Geese.

Join me again tomorrow, when I travel to Vermont.

21 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Enjoying this e-journey!!

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  2. What a fun theme for your A-Z challenge.

    I look forward to following along, and seeing the pictures you'll be sharing from Florida to Vermont.

    The art and murals are quite interesting! I would love to see The Fence someday. Is it always on display, or only at certain times of the year?

    Blessings~

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    1. The Fence is a traveling exhibit so it only would have been in Sarasota for a few weeks and then gone on to another stop. In the past, it's also been cities such as NYC, Boston, Calgary (Alberta). I can't find anything for 2022 online; I wonder if it is even being held anymore.

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  3. ...public art, let's have more of it.

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    1. I second your emotion! By the way, I saw a new (to me) mural in Endicott the other day. It's been up since mid 2021, paying tribute to a 40 year old woman who died too young from a condition she had battled since her college years.

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  4. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Ounta Gorda. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. They should be proud of their artwork, it's beautiful. Looking forward to more of you photographic adventures.

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  6. Amazing artist! We need all the beauty we can get.

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  7. Here we are, April 1st! I look forward to all your letters. The lights in the sea creatures is a nice idea.

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  8. Beautiful skies. Punta Gorda looks like a really fun place to visit!

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  9. Went walking this a.m. before it gets too hot here in Tucson. I wanted to start A to Z commenting earlier but all I had time for after I got up was making sure my post for the A to Z challenge had posted. I was in Punta Gordo a couple years ago for a conference and to visit a friend from blogging group I had managed in Tucson. ALS took her from us in Feb. I'm wondering if there are Octopi artworks there. She loved these weird critters. I'd like to think she's floating along there taking in the sea art.

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  10. LOVE them all! Thanks for sharing with us! LLC

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  11. Love the butterfly bench - so creative! Best of luck with the challenge.

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  12. Travel photos are a great way to bring others out of a funk. I love murals! This is a place I'd like to see. The artwork is really cool. We have beautiful blue skies overhead today. The temperature is just below 60º and we have a chilly breeze. The rich blues and fluffy whites would make a great SWF picture but I didn't take the time to snap a photo. Nice start for the A2Z challenge, my friend!

    A Weeping Angel

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  13. Great theme and great photos. I'm especially captivated by the sky images, and the line of geese is fabulous.

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  14. Wow! Awesome sky shot ~ and fun series of Fl ~ Xo

    Wishing you love and laughter in your days,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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