Almost the first of August and 5 months ago we rolled into town. How very unsettling to be unsettled. We had hopes for smooth sailing and as far as the studio goes, it was nice to walk into having a little work waiting and after having done this line of work for so many years, it really wasn’t all that unfamiliar.
Kate our former owner of Island Photographics has been very helpful and we are grateful for a smooth transition. She immediately began to introduce us to the movers and shakers here in Venice and we are having people come in now that have at least heard of us.
In this area, we are told that the town is around 20,000 people, perhaps a little over double where we came from in Keokuk. We are also told that “in season”, November thru April, that it swells to 200,000 people. What we weren’t quite prepared for was the “off-season”. Although we were certainly told about it, we weren’t prepared completely for what that really meant.
Every business that we’ve talked to experiences the same thing. We have to plan on things dieing off when the snowbirds leave. In April, when they have pretty much all gone back north, people here also tend to leave and go on vacation, or else they button up and spending is curtailed. Things began to pick back up and the outlook better as July came and talks of a very busy fall season give a lot of hope and anticipation. That’s how things are going with the business.
At home in North Port, we actually had a tornado hit out neighborhood over Memorial weekend. John Mott, who is our neighbor here that is also from Keokuk goes north during the summer and I hitched a ride with him to go back to Iowa and get my pickup truck. As we were northbound, a popup thunderstorm hit near our house and Judy called me to tell me her and Austin had taken refuge in the bathroom as they saw the funnel cloud approach. It was 150 ft. wide and apparently hit our neighbors house and ours as we had a lot of debris in the trees around our house. Other lost part of their roofs and we made the national news. Judy and Austin weren’t hurt and we sustained moderate issues with our house, some soffiting and roof issues but not as bad as our neighbors.
Drove back a few days later, was able to do a few photo shoots while I was in Iowa and that helped pay for the trip. Austin went to be with his dad for the summer back in June and is scheduled to return in a couple weeks.
Christopher my son has just passed his exams for being a court reporter and his gal Cecillie has graduated and passed her RN tests, school and boards and is now a full fledged Registered Nurse. My daughter is planning to get married soon here in Florida and Owen is growing and conversing like a real big kid.
And such is life right now, all is well and I continue to miss family and friends back home.