what Ojai is like

Hello–how are you doing?  Friends are asking, “How’s Ojai?” and about the farm where Ming and I stay.  So I thought I should make a post about what Ojai is like.

We live in a room to the side of the kitchen.  It shares a wall with the kitchen.  There is electricity.  Here is the view from our porch.

Pretty amazing, huh?  Apricots trees straight ahead, and pomegranate trees to the right.

Some naked lady flowers are blooming, so radiant and pink.  Please see the small frogs at the edge of the bright blue bowl-pond.

“God!  I’m 45 years old and still don’t know how to spell pomegranate!  I spell it wrong every! freakin’! time!” I said.

“Red fruit with too many seeds.  Maybe the too many seeds give it too many letters,” Ming said.

“Yeah, maybe,” I said.  “Maybe I’ll spell it wrong my whole life.  There are way worse problems to have.”

“Yeah, like not having any pomegranates!” Ming said.

“I agree,” I said.

sign

Here is a sign by the entrance.

I also found some Asian pear trees that others seem to have forgotten about.  Wow, delicious.

Here is an art I see at the farm every day.

location location location

Ojai is a small town in California, at the edge of my homeland.  It’s inland enough to get hot in the summer, but not 110 like Las Vegas.  It gets more into the 90s.

Ojai is near Santa Barbara, which is where I went to school to do my undergrad degree.  It’s near Ventura.  I have strong feelings about the live oak trees, loquat trees, and other plant friends that have a deeply comforting familiarity.

pretty

Answering the question of what Ojai is like, did I forget to say it’s gorgeous?  This pic Ming took is a view of the valley, from the lookout point where many people watch the sunset, mostly with alcohol or weed.

Here’s another pretty pic with the informative signage.

Here’s a selfie of us with sunset glow.

Vedanta

The Vedanta temple in Montecito is close by, a 45 minute drive from the farm.  I love it there–it’s the first Vedanta place I ever went to back in 1998.  What a great place to pray, and it smells wonderful.

Since moving to Ojai, Ming and I have visited the Vedanta temple twice.  Here’s me on the steps from far away.

butterflies

Sometimes the farm reminds me of the best summer camp in the world, with no agenda, and nothing I have to do at a set time.  Wow, it’s heaven.

Other times, there are too many bugs.  I wish our room had a bathroom, and I wish the bed was more than a mattress on the floor.  Getting dressed in the middle of the night, walking through the dark, and entering the house to use the bathroom is annoying, especially the third and fourth time any given night.  I’m afraid I’m waking up the people whose rooms are right there.

But I could stare at these butterflies forever.  I smile and smile.  These flowers are red valerian, or Jupiter’s beard, right by where Ming parks our car.