March 06, 2009
Is it still called “hooky” when you step away from the office in pursuit of more pleasurable activities?
I’ve caught a flight to the West Coast of Florida to see a little Spring Training in the Grapefruit League.
En route to watch the Red Sox play at the very pleasant City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, I stop at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates on McGregor Boulevard. I half expect to park next to a Model T.
The two houses, Edison’s “Seminole Lodge,” and Ford’s “Mangoes,” stand side by side. Undisturbed by time or nature, they possess innovations that even the most modern homes might envy.
Large overhanging porches circle each house. These, combined with French doors on the first floor, provide a cool breeze at all times. Edison built one of Florida’s first pools here with the cement from his own company and filled it with water from an artesian well.
The garden, initially created to support Edison’s scientific investigations, contains more than 1000 varieties of plants from all over the world, including a 400-foot wide banyan tree from Calcutta, a gift from Harvey Firestone in 1925. Mrs. Edison later enhanced the garden with roses, orchids and bromeliads.
These rambling homes have a remarkably gracious and undisturbed quality about them. Like Hemingway’s house in Key West and Teddy Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill, they offer the suggestion that their occupants have simply stepped outside for a long walk and will return momentarily.
They also have a certain tranquility and serenity about them conducive to great thoughts and invention.
Where do you go to create your best work?
still thinking about today...
john,
absolutely right on the edison and ford winter estates. have been to city of palms many times. i am in naples all winter. next time, come and stay a few days. jim murphy
john,
absolutely right on the edison and ford winter estates. have been to city of palms many times. i am in naples all winter. next time, come and stay a few days. jim murphy
There's a little campground in the Eagle River Area called Anvil Lake.
My summers were spent there running the trails, climbing the trees, being out on the boat reading (while the rest of the family was fishing) It's a mature forest so the foliage when you look into seems to have such depth that you feel like if you keep walking into it you may end up falling down the same rabbit hole Alice did.
Becuase of that I love to camp & have a quiet afternoon just sitting in the forest, hearing the trees swaying in the wind, the birds, and feeling spots of sunshine on your face. I can lie in the hammock all day with a good book, dozing to forests sounds and have some creative ideas pop into my mind along the way.....