Learning to think positively, love freely, forgive lavishly and have an open mind
The City I Love
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Good and bad, I love my city. It is where my heart is.
Ventura is a very laid back, relaxed town. Culturally diverse, fun and funky...
There's about 106,000 people here....76% white, 31% Hispanic, etc. At the last count, of those 106K people, 306 were homeless. That number seems a little low to me but I'll take it. With all its beauty and great location, it is not cheap to live in Ventura. A young family of 4 needs to have an income of $82,000.00 to live modestly. Childcare and housing being the largest expenses in a budget, averaging around $1150.00 for childcare and $1500.00 for housing, minimum wage jobs just don't cut it.
That being said, if you are one of the lucky ones who can afford housing, food and other basics, there are many things to enjoy about our town;
According to a Washington Post article in 2015, Ventura County is the most desirable place to live in America for climate. I can't argue with it. Our warm months are from June to October where we see an average high of 73°F (22°C). We will see a spike of a few weeks in the summer where we all suffer through it and go to a lot of movies because very few people in Ventura have A/C. The cool months are November to April with an average high temp below 67°F (19°C) and rarely going below the 50°'s. We get a May-June gloom that I am not overly fond of but some people enjoy.
All in all, we have the beach, mountains, good food, great weather, decent schools and loads of brewerys for you beer lovers. I love it mostly because it is where my people are and where my person is.
Welcome!
Mission San BuenaVentura - founded in 1782
(That's REALLY old for us Californians)
View from City Hall
Famous Two Trees♥
One of the lucky ones that can afford to buy a home.
My tender hearted girl decided she wanted to foster an old lady. Selkie is 14, is nearly deaf and nearly blind, has a hard time walking and uses her bark to get her needs met. She got her home, took her for a bath and then basically loved this old girl for three weeks until the property manager decided that it wasn’t a good match (barking too much AND because she is a pit bull). My girl knew it was probably temporary but she gave that dog a comfortable loving home, away from the chaos of the shelter, for a short time. Ideally, she would have walked her home but that’s not how it worked this time. Last night she stood and ugly cried on a strangers shoulder after giving her back. I love that girl and her sweet heart. I wish Selkie a new final home full of love.
We pass by the house frequently since it sits on a busy thoroughfare. We know to look every time we pass and guess what will we see. Will it be the two Dalmatians, sitting on the couch that backs up to the giant panel window, waiting for their human to come home? Or will it be their human, sitting slightly to the right of middle (allowing for a better view of the giant mounted tv across the room) of the said couch. They are never there at the same time. It’s one or the other. One sleepless night, when my body was willing but my brain was not, I did a little sleuthing. It’s amazing what you can find out about a complete stranger. His name is Gary and, from what I can tell, he’s never been married. He has worked his way up in a air duct company. He’s now the senior VP but it’s a small company and he still goes out on jobs, judging from the reviews on Yelp. I know he has two siblings and that their father passed away in 2018. His memorial was held in a Buddhist temple and Gary...
Vai. E, se der medo, vai con medo mesmo. When one is raised in an angry family, it’s not enough to say I don’t want to be angry. You must learn how to do it differently. That’s no easy task. If judgment and self hatred became a way of life, a new way to live has to be taught. There are many ways to do it. Reading, writing, sharing, practicing all help the change. Counseling, psychoanalysis, religion, meditation, gratitude, have the ability to transform but I needed to see it in action, it needed to be more tangible, visual, accessible. I needed to understand the possibilities. There is a YouTube channel that I watch over and over again in order to absorb how to live more fully, more open and from the heart. One of the first episodes that I stumbled on is this…. The channel is Reflections of Life and through it we get to meet people who are doing life a little differently, often more soul based. People who are living life, healing wounds and finding what is truly important. I...
It does look like a tropical paradise!
ReplyDeleteAs we are in a drought, not incredibly tropical but we are all adjusting and trying to do our part.
DeleteIt looks lovely. The weather sounds perfect! No wonder you love it so!
ReplyDelete