Sunsets and Tommy and spoonbills and lizards: These are a few of your favorite things

It snuck up on me again, what with vacation, toxic algae and one-year-after-Hurricane Irma, but I was reminded with a jolt that one of my babies was about to have Birthday No. 17.

OK, I may be using the word "baby" figuratively, but since its conception, Tropicalia has certainly felt like one of my babies, and lord knows I love it like a mama. 

Because I didn't want to let the milestone go unnoted, I turned to Facebook, in hopes of gathering 17 favorite Southwest Florida things from the Tropicalia Nation.  

A year after Irma: Photos from the long road to recovery

As ever, y'all did not disappoint, and my hoped-for 17 quickly rose to more than I can include in this space.

I've stuck to that number of suggestions (the literal-minded among you will note that some contributed multiple things; I decided to count the contributors and not the contributions) for the printed paper. Not surprisingly, some of your suggestions echoed each other (sunsets, Thomas Edison and Andrew West's photos, to name a few); when that happened, I just chose a representative sample. 

So in honor of Tropicalia's 17 years, here are 17 of your favorite gifts Southwest Florida offers its people.

Happy birthday to us!

Sunsets by the (Caloosahatchee) River are one of my favorite things.

— Vickie Saez

Memories of catching blue crabs, shrimp, snook, trout, tarpon, sawfish and everything else around the Tarpon Street pier.

— Mike Gookin

Cowboys and horses, of course.

 — Linda Barron Floyd

Finding these little lizards and frogs inside rolled up newspapers or mail, AFTER I've brought them into the house. Actually, it's my cat's favorite thing. I prefer them outside in the mailbox where they like to hide.

— Kathy Miller

I'm afraid I don't have a picture, because cameras have yet to capture it. For me it is that very first cool night that arrives (usually in Mid-October), after you have been begging all summer long for it. August, forget about it, and some think September brings it, but no. Just when you think you can't stand it anymore, she cranks up the heat and humidity to prove it can get worse. But then there is October which most likely will still be blazing, but will offer you a hint of the North winds yet to come in the evening, if you pay attention. The struggle from May to that moment. That's my favorite thing about living here.

— Millisa Bell

When the water turns the color turquoise off the Sanibel Causeway, October sunsets, the first cold snap, an unexpected whiff of orange blossom in the air, walking out of a too cold air conditioned room into a warm night, the pink of a roseate spoonbill against a blue sky, spying the first caladiums pushing out of the ground in the Spring, eating outside year round. (I could go on.)

— Carol Newcomb 

Snook, redfish, grouper, tarpon, trout, snapper, bass, ladyfish, mackerel, mullet, sunset and wine.

— Dan Martin

Certainly for me it’s the flora and fauna ... Just the sheer variety of both and that gardening and wild animal-watching can be enjoyed year round. Particularly I love the butterflies. One year my kids and I counted 10 varieties in our lot-sized butterfly garden. That garden was my dream. 

— Rebecca Modys

My favorite thing about Southwest Florida was the amazing afternoon and evening thunderboomers. The dark clouds rolling in, the breeze picking up, the sound of a distant thunder and then a great lightning show. It's the greatest show on earth — for free. For breathtaking pix, I'll refer you to Andrew West's photo oeuvre.

—Chris Wadsworth

Can’t get enough of this crazy beautiful plant (night-blooming cereus)!

— Kathy Becker Holiday

Tommy (AKA Thomas Alva Edison), The Veranda and Whiskey Creek.

— Tracy Haun Owens

The overdone tropical greenery, punctuated by splashes of hot colors like jacaranda purple, poinciana red, hibiscus every color.

— Deborah Butler

Driving down historic Mcgregor Blvd and seeing the Royal Palm Trees in all their glory, going on a historic True Tour of downtown Fort Myers, learning about Southwest Florida history at the Southwest Florida Historical Society, enjoying local social media pages (like) Fort Myers Florida Old Photo Page, Hello SWF and many more and enjoying a day or a sunset on the Caloosahatchee River.

— Joanne Iwinski Miller  

The past.

— Beverly Mott 

McGregor Boulevard, the Edison Home, the Burroughs Home, Art Walk, Music Walk, Taste of the Town, Daas Gallery, Downtown at Christmas and the locals.

— Deb Mathis 

The sunrises are incredible. The sunsets are also, but for me the sunrises welcome the day in a special way. 

— Earl Smith 

One of my favorite thing about this place? Its beautiful, loving people - reading all your thoughts and seeing your images just reinforces that. Thank you, with my whole heart.

— Amy Bennett Williams