Together Time

I don't have images from most of our time together Saturday and Sunday.

Had we an image from Saturday night I'd be sharing a really sweet gesture from a woman was a participant in Ventura's Arts in the Park event. She learned that James and I were celebrating our anniversary and gave me a pair of really cool earrings - because "31 years means something must be going right".

Or an image from the really great food we had on our Ventura Harbor Cruise or the image of the sun setting beneath the horizon while pelicans flew against a darkening sky.

Or the super store we wandered through in Santa Paula that was filled with sometimes cheesy delights... we were drawn in by the super piñatas and ended up leaving the store with good towels and really kitschy popsicle makers.

Or the two young men we spoke to while enjoying some drink at Garman's in Santa Paula. The first was a young man who had had too much to drink and shared with this Nana his desire to meet girls and the second young man who was afraid to spread his literary wings.

Alas, no images for any of this.

Instead here is an image that comes from Figueroa Plaza in Ventura; a grand example of how to combine art, a newly minted walkable experience, and healthy bit of history. These works recognize China Alley and the community that was a part of Ventura's history in the 1870s and 1880s.

As we were leaving Ventura we stopped by the Olivas Adobe. The dining room has the furniture of the last private owner. Max Fleischmann enjoyed wealth as an heir to Fleischmann's Yeast and his principle stock in General Foods.

In the dining room James read a didactic he found moving. "Once questioned why he was so generous with his wealth, Fleischmann responded, 'A millionaire doesn't deserve a damn bit of praise for using whatever money he has to help other people. He deserves a lot of discredit if he doesn't'."