Ventura, California

Ventura is where I grew up and in some ways it's changed a lot.

There are now more places to eat than Straw Hat Pizza and LOVES: A Place for Ribs, and it also seems that there are now more things do than go to a drive in movie or have a bon fire on the beach! Actually, the drive-in is now a Barns and Noble and you can no longer have an open pit on the beach. Sad.  

Some of my favorite memories from high school are of sitting around bon fires, at night, with friends, laughing and telling stories, maybe staring at your crush from across the flames.

The one thing that never changes, is the feel and smell of the salty ocean air.  It's kind of cool and wet and reminds me of my childhood, riding bikes down to the pier and coming home with sandy streaks of popsicle down my legs and feet.  It was a great place to grow up.

I long, as does every human being, 

to be at home 

wherever I find myself.

~ Maya Angelou

All parts of the journey are sacred and holy.

Take time now to honor the beginning.

~Melody Beattie