Harlem Heights series. Ft. Myers, Fla. Paul Goldfinger © The bougainvillea shrub has red flowers. Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net
Harlem Heights is an old neighborhood in the city of Ft. Myers. The houses are very modest, and there are quite a few residents who live below the poverty line. At the top of this street is a roadside fruit and vegetable stand. The elderly African-American man who runs the stand lives on this street. He was raised here and talks about how his house had been surrounded by farms.
Many of them grew gladiolus flower bulbs. In fact, the main street there is called Gladiolus Drive and the A&B Bulb Road is where a famous gladiolus farm once existed. Lee County used to be called the Gladiolus Capital of the World.
gladiolus
His stand is across from the bright green Food Bank where small crowds show up when they are open for business. And one block away from him is the bright yellow Heights Elementary School. Both sites have been photographed and posted recently on Blogfinger..
You will notice the sign above: BEWARE OF THE DOG. There are mixed messages here: beautiful flowers and a dire warning on a locked fence.
But I think there is actually a complimentary message, and it has to do with the word “the.” “The dog” implies one dog in particular, and the “the” rather than “beware: dog” says that we don’t really mean to threaten anybody.
“The dog” on the sign is just a cuddly, friendly, jovial canine who loves to greet visitors. I think the “the” means to say, “Come look at the flowers; ‘the dog’ is friendly.”
I stood there to take this picture, and no dog actually appeared.
And while we are discussing Harlem Heights, here is a report about another street in that neighborhood, two blocks away.
BEVERLY KENNEY:
“Can’t we sail away on a lazy daisy petal
Over the rim of the hills?
Can’t we sail away on a little dream
Settle high on the crest of a thrill?”