1/10/13 - Today was fall in love with Ojai day.

Sister*friend Christine, visiting from Virginia, accompanied me on today's excursion.  Some of you reading this blog know that my envisioned journey to California began with a  connection to this sweet small town via a children's book called "Rainbow Bridge."  This precious story is based on a Chumash Indian Tale that speaks deeply to my soul.  This area along the pacific coast stretches far back to a time when the Chumash Indians resided here. 

Ojai is a mere 30 minute drive along the coast from Santa Barbara.  Welcoming signs and symbols of resonant connection popped out to meet us as we meandered about. 
The vibration in the air was so incredibly friendly that I instantly felt like I had lived there for a long time. Two different woman approached me from the back thinking that I was someone local they knew. I was drawn to shops displaying Welcome Home mats and Art for the Home. 

A beautiful black cat racing out in front of me ignited my memory to a time back in 2000 when I considered having a black cat.  I decided at that time that I would wait until my gypsy self was ready to set roots in a permanent feeling place.  So....... am I ready to settle down?  Is Ojai the place? I shall see what unfolds. 

 first sign posted to a tree eight miles prior to entering the town of Ojai.

 Ojai happy face logo - (pronounced oh~hi!)

 1st stop - Rainbow Bridge (of course!)

Great health food store! 

 Getting to know the town ~ getting to know the trees

Of course I had to do my vocal crow impersonation for the shop owner

calling forth Renya Creations!

Thank you 
Universal One 

Ojai
& Christine Dolphin Dancer

for co*creating with me this extraordinary day!

Wait... Wait....what's that i see in the distance
A mermaid!
Pool Store / Bike Shop!  
what a fun combo! 

Creation's skydance of possibility

in this moment
 pointing us back to Santa Barbara

sweetly singing to and from my heart

"until we meet again"....

ABOUT OJAI:  Ojai (pronounced oh~hi) is a city in Ventura County, CA situated in the Ojai Valley, northwest of Los Angeles and southeast of Santa Barbara (10 miles long by 3 miles wide, surrounded by hills and mountains. Population well under 10,000.  The town is known mostly for its hotels and services catering to tourism, recreation including strong hiking and spiritual retreats, as well as for a strong farmer's marketon Sundays and an abundance of local organic agriculture.  It also has an abundance of small businesswes specializing in local and ecologically friendly art, design and home improvement such as galleries and a solar power company.  Chain stores, other than a few gas stationsn) are forbidden by Ojai city law to encourage local small business development, keeping the town unique.The city's self-styled nickname is "The Shangri-La of Southern California, referring to the similarities between the health-and-spirituality-focused region and the mystical sanctuary of James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon.  Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley.  They called it Ojai, which derives from the Ventureño Chumash word ʼawhaý meaning "moon."

I experienced a palpable unique air in Ojai. A feeling of being in an altered state.  A happy peaceful place out of time in a manner of speaking.  Seems to me it is a community living the art of mindfulness, slow, steady, and graceful. My being adapted easily and readily to the tone of ahhhhhhhh.  I definitely look forward to visiting the precious town of Ojai again!