You Can Go Home Again

Today’s Post by Mark Toal

I recently had a chance to go to Sarasota, Florida for a work event and then spent a few days visiting my family in Tampa. I spent the first 22 years of my life in Miami and I have to confess that I didn’t like Florida. As soon as I saw the West I took off and only go back to Florida for short visits.

My reasons for disliking Florida were more personal than about the state itself. I also find Florida to be the hardest place to photograph. The cities are fairly clean and new which is not my style and heat and humidity keep me by the pool or indoors instead of looking for photos.

For some reason this visit was different. In Sarasota I meet Skip Cohen at the Panasonic event. If you don’t know about Skip check out his blog at Skip Cohen University. He and his wife recently moved to Florida to care for an aging father. Skip and his wife gave me a perspective on Florida from an outsider’s view that helped me look at it in a different way.

The things that were blocking me from appreciating my home state now fascinated me and I had a great time taking photos, visiting family and just being home. I look forward to my next visit.