How do you best handle failure?
“A step backward after making a wrong turn is a step in the right direction.” (Kurt Vonnegut)
My grandfather used to spend much of his spare time tinkering with objects to make them work better. When I visited him for long stretches at a time in Tampa, Florida in my early teens, he might for instance be trying out a new tv antenna, restringing his fishing reel or even carving out chess pieces to make them look more real. When something he did failed to work, I noticed he’d patiently just go back and try it again.
Know then that our recent road trip visit to the former winter home of Thomas Edison in Fort Myers, Florida along the Calloosahatchee River felt very much the same as these memories of my grandfather. For from a historic perspective, I note that Mr. Edison also knew very well the bitterness of failure that often accompanied his trial and error attempts to build and market such revolutionary inventions as the incandescent electric light, Edison storage battery and listening phonograph player. Yet with so much world fame already secured from such hard earned efforts, a question arises as to why he needed to reside on this land parcel in a relatively rural region of Florida during the “golden years” of his life?
So taking a deeper look at Mr. Edison’s longtime winter residency in this subtropical coast city from 1885 to the time of his death in 1931, it’s clear to me that he did not move here to just “rest on his previous laurels.” Take for instance my curious glance at the thick strand of trees lining the estate entrance to begin my tour. For Edison began there in the 1920s a period of laborious botanical experimentation here, to pioneer one of the first attempts to grow rubber successfully on American soil. Next following an easy to read app guide, we made our way on the ground to such well preserved locations as the original Edison main house and restored laboratory study. At the time, I noticed Edison’s flair for making good use of the latest inventions of this era in these important interior environments as well as providing detailed use of space in arranging comfortable furniture and various other objects so he could either work or relax successfully.
Upon also concentrating my attention on the outdoor environs of Mr. Edison’s property for much of this day, I observed Mr. Edison’s great love for building “state of the art” additions to relax according to his favorite hobbies in this mild climate. There’d be plenty of opportunity for him to thus cast off his rod and reel on the river from a private fishing pier spanning a 1500 foot long. When lavish entertainment of guests “struck his fancy”, he undoubtedly mingled with his esteemed family or guests around his lavishly designed swimming pool which also contained a changing area and private showers and tea room When he desired a place to just quietly or read, write, his tropically manicured “Moonlight Garden” must have fulfilled these leisurely needs as well.
I must confess my intense interest in applying Thomas Edison’s “never quit” method to my travels. For I need to sustain more functional solutions to times when home life crises restricts my time allotted to travel. My trial and error goal thus over the next year or two would be to test out a few suitable oases we can visit as Mr. Edison did in Fort Myers to best fulfill our hobbies and social interests during future long term stays. At this point in time, I envision either Northern California, Central Arizona, or the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado as definitely desirable. Enjoy the photo tour of the Edison winter home.
Source Material (Click links below)
https://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/
Snippets of a Traveling Mind 
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