We sped along the state highways and county roads north of Ocala, Florida, in my cool new old red Jeep today. Our whirlwind tour made the shape of a lasso, east to Ocala National Forest, then curving around at Kerr Lake to head back west, and finally south down highway 41 back to Sarasota. It took us a good seven or eight hours, and we had a blast. I let my companion, Charlie, drive while I attempted to work from the passenger seat. The work only lasted through one client blog entry before I had to quit due to a queasy stomach–another hazard of working on the road. For most of my trip, I won’t have a driver, so I’ll be working when the pavement isn’t slipping by underneath me. Once I had finished the client blog and sent it off through my iPhone’s personal hot spot, I was able to look up and really enjoy the scenery. Charlie earned her right to drive by being a fount of information, from marketing ideas to life lessons.
In case you don’t know, the Ocala area is famous for its horse farms and horse-related businesses of all kinds. As Charlie put it, many of the folks who own these businesses could be considered the “rural rich.” Some of the farms, stables and racetracks we saw were extraordinarily elegant and elite. Expensive white fences, supergreen manicured lawns and immaculate stables graced some properties, while others on the lesser byways left us thinking their owners must have chosen a life of leisure–meaning “without work.” In those areas, we saw peeling paint, rotting porches, boats moored in overgrown pastures and palm tree stumps that made it look like the trees had been chopped off at the knees.
I suppose it’s normal for any area to contain both the rich and the poor, but this area in particular made the gap between the two very obvious. Charlie and I talked about the fact that every person chooses his or her destiny. Even those who choose not to make choices are making a choice, right? We both feel very lucky to have come from families that have launched and run their own businesses. We, at least, had the advantage of knowing it is possible to run our own businesses. Our bosses won’t fire us. If a client fires us, we can always find more clients. Times have been tough on us, as they have on all businesses through the crazy economic changes of the last few years. But we feel a confidence and personal power from our entrepreneurial roots, even if it just means we are not afraid to live in our cars if we have to while we build up to the next successful business.
Thankfully, my business is going well and I won’t have to live in my car any time soon–unless I want to. In fact, after a much longed-after trip to the beach down around Fort Myers tomorrow, I’ll make the choice to live in my new old red Jeep as I travel along the Gulf Coast as I work my way to Houston for Christmas–and I do mean work after goofing off the better part of the last week. Have you commented on my blog yet? Don’t forget, if you do, you can be put in a drawing to order a souvenir of your choice from the Gulf Coast area. I’d love to bring you back a bit of the beach.
