Ojai Quarterly - Fall 2018

LIVING THE OJAI LIFE FALL 2018

Quarterly

Steeling the Show Local Artist Meshes With Harley Davidson Culture

FULL CIRCLE

Famed Artist Back Where It All Began

PETER & HIS GARDEN

Actor’s Off-Screen Life as Master Gardener

SCI-FI IN OJAI

Philip K. Dick’s Take On Our Hometown

PA T T Y WA LT C H E R

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Fall 2018

Editor & Publisher Bret Bradigan Director of Publications Ross Falvo Contributing Editors Mark Lewis Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr. Jesse Phelps Contributing Designer Paul Stanton Columnists Bennett Barthelemy Dr. Beth Prinz Ilona Saari Kit Stolz Sami Zahringer

Director of Sales

Laura Rearwin Ward Circulation Target Media Partners

Contact Us: Editorial & Advertising, 805.798.0177 editor@ojaiquarterly.com sales@ojaiquarterly.com The contents of the Ojai Quarterly may not be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written consent of the publisher.

LIVING THE OJAI LIFE FALL 2018

Subscriptions: To subscribe to the OQ, visit ojaiquarterly.com or write to 1129 Maricopa Highway, B186 Ojai, CA 93023.

Subscriptions are $24.95 per year.

You can also e-mail us at editor@ojaiquarterly.com.

Please recycle this magazine when you are finished. © 2018 Bradigan Group LLC. All rights reserved.

Quarterly

Dresser For success Local Artist Meshes With Harley Davidson Culture

FuLL cIrcLe

Famed Artist Back Where It All Began

PeTer & HIs GArDeN

Actor’s Off-Screen Life as Master Gardener

scI-FI IN oJAI OQ / FALL 2018

Philip K. Dick’s Take On Our Hometown 1

On The Cover Model: Charlotte Godfrey Photo by Stacia Morgan Dress by Elaine Unzicker

FEATURES

99

Peter & His Garden

Renowned Actor Finds Purpose, Solace With East End Garden.

Story By Robin Gerber Photos by Brandi Crockett

52

Steeling the Show

Ojai Artist’s Chain Mail Creations Adorn Harley Davidson Shoot Story by Bret Bradigan

43

Full Circle

Post-Thomas Fire, Famed Artist Back Where It All Began Story by Mark Lewis

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OQ / FALL 2018

15

DEPARTMENTS 30

Ojai Notes McDowell, Kuras Get Film Fest Honors

By Kathleen Kaiser

128

Sights For Soar Eyes Launching Off Camino Cielo Story & Photos by Bennett Barthelemy

73

Chef Profile Gabrielle Chesneau, Food Harmonics

By Sarah Howery Hart

MAPS/ETC.

24 Editor’s Note 25 Contributors 29 Ojai Notes 60 Artists & Galleries 77 Ojai’s Wine Trail 110 Street Map 116 Healers of Ojai 119 Retreat Page 124 Top Ten Ojai Hikes 136 Calendar of Events

Photo by Bennett Barthelemy

36

Off The Shelf Sci-Fi Author’s Take on Ojai Story by Kit Stolz

63

Food & Drink Ojai Authors Cooking With Books

By Ilona Saari

144

Nocturnal Submissions At An Ojai Party, The Future is Formed

By Sami Zahringer

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EDITOR’S NOTE

LEONARDO DA VINCI, PARTY PLANNER “To trace the remote in the immediate; the eternal in the ephemeral; the past in the present; the infinite in the finite; these are to me the springs of delight and beauty.” — H.P. Lovecraft That quote from H.P. Lovecraft fascinates me, because it’s so unexpected coming from a writer of such macabre and dark fantasies. It’s as if the great chronicler of the battles between light and dark is weighing his thumb on the scale toward the light.

Another irony that fascinates me is that Leonardo da Vinci — who has created some of mankind’s most eternal masterpieces — spent the final decade of his prolific life in the employ of France’s Henry V, where he was the court architect and painter. He also coordinated all the pageantry of the court, the jousting tournaments, the royal weddings, the births, funerals and everything in between. In essence, he was a party planner.

All that work from his glorious mind enjoyed by a relatively small group of people, for a short period of time.

Here’s a sample description from Walter Isaacson’s superb biography: “As he had for his previous patrons, Leonardo designed and staged pageants for King Francis. In May 1518, for example, there were celebrations at Amboise to mark the baptism of the king’s son and the marriage of his niece. The preparations included the construction of an arch topped by a salamander and an ermine, symbolizing the rapprochement between France and Italy. The piazza was transformed into a theatrical fortress with fake artillery ‘firing air-inflated balls with great blasting and smoking effects,’ according to a dispatch from one diplomat. ‘These balls, falling on the piazza, bounced all over to everyone’s delight and without any damage.’ From another description: ‘The courtyard was entirely covered with sky-blue sheets with golden-hued stars to look like the sky.’” Wish I could have been there to see that.

It reminds me of Ojai, where art and artists are central to our identity, as evidenced by the Ojai Studio Artists Tour the second weekend of October, and the Film Festival the first week of November. We open our community’s doors to the public with great fanfare, then quietly go back to doing what we do best; creating lasting works of art.

The Ojai Quarterly has none of those pretensions; we exist somewhere between the ephemeral and the notquite. But during the time this issue is out and about, we urge you to check it out. Peter Strauss, for example, is more proud of his Ojai garden than his storied acting career, as you’ll learn from Robin Gerber’s lyrical feature.

Elaine Unzicker’s metal lace creations are making a splash outside Ojai’s artistic pond. Another well-known artist, Gerd Koch, has returned to Ojai, another survivor of the Thomas Fire. Speaking of food as art, Ilona Saari shows us the literal devotion to the culinary arts of Ojai cooks/authors and Sarah Howery Hart interviews Food Harmonics’ Gabrielle Chesneau. The intrepid Bennett Barthelemy soars high in his latest adventure. Kit Stolz examines Philip K. Dick, the esteemed sci-fi author, and his relationship to Ojai. It’s all in here. Come check it out.

24

OQ / FALL 2018

CONTRIBUTORS Bennett Barthelemy is a freelance adventure photographer and writer who was born and raised in Ojai. Check him out at bennettbarthelemy.blogspot.com.

Robin Gerber is the author of four books, and a playwright. Check her out at robingerber.com

Jerry Dunn received the

2011 Gold Award for best travel column from the Society of American Travel Writers. His latest book is “My Favorite Place on Earth.”

Linda Harmon is a freelance writer and artist. You can email her at lhart412@ roadrunner.com, or visit her website at highergroundart. com.

Ojai’s locally owned and operated magazines.

local writer whose work has appeared in local and national publications. She is working on a sci-fi/ fantasy series. She may be reached at sarah@ sarahhoweryhart.com.

Jesse Phelps grew up

Kit Stolz is an award-win-

ning journalist who has written for newspapers, magazines, literary journals, and online sites. He lives in Upper Ojai and blogs at achangeinthewind.com.

editor based in Ojai. He can be contacted at mark lewis1898@gmail.com.

By nationally award-winning writers and photographers.

Ilona Saari is a writer

who’s worked in TV/film, rock’n’roll and political press, and as an op-ed columnist, mystery novelist and consultant for HGTV. She blogs for food: mydinnerswithrichard. blogspot.com.

Sami Zahringer is an Ojai

writer and award-winning breeder of domestic American long-haired children.

She has more force meat recipes than you.

DISCOVER

OJAI an

J

in Ojai and has written extensively for and about the town. He enjoys freelance projects and throwing things. Jesse can be reached at jessephelps@ outlook.com.

Mark Lewis is a writer and

#OJAI STRONG, OJAI STRONGER

On the Firing Line with Travis Escalante

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Sarah Howery Hart is a

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OJAI NOTES BOOK SHOWS COMMUNITY FIGHTING FIRE WITH COMPASSION The scars from the Thomas Fire can still be witnessed all around Ojai, but so can the healing. An example is a collaboration between Deva Temple and Elizabeth Rose. “I started “Writing from the Fire” Facebook page on Dec. 12 — there was so much beautiful writing — poetry, prose, reflection — that I thought it would be amazing to have it all in one place,” said Rose.

Temple had traveled from Oregon to Matilija Canyon to help her mother escape the flames and was much taken by the community response. “I think that Ojai is a model for how a community can respond to disaster, when most people generally have their needs met and when we see one another as human.”

Rose saw another post from Temple that she was collecting photos for a possible book. “We did not know each other before this ... she said, ‘Either you read my mind or I read yours.’”

The book, “From The Fire,” is expected to make its debut at a booksigning on Nov. 17th at Boku, 987 West Ojai Avenue, from 3 to 5 p.m. “Net proceeds from the sale of the book are going to the Greater Goods Relief Fund,”

FIRST OJAI HERBAL SYMPOSIUM PLANNED The first-ever Ojai Herbal Symposium will take place Friday, Nov. 16 through Sunday evening, Nov. 18, on the theme of “Natural Resilience.” Experts, authors and speakers will present from across the spectrum of modern herbalism, pharmacy, integrative medicine, Oriental medicine, Ayurvedic medicine and Chumash healing.

Rose said. Along with the softcover books, “we are producing 50 limited-edition hardcover books that we will sell for $100 each,” she said. Presales start in October.

The process of editing and publishing the book included intriguing coincidences. In fact, Rose and Temple had never met in person until this project.

Temple grew up in Ojai, and now lives in Ashland, Oregon. Rose went to visit The Thomas Fire inspired Deva Temple and Elizabeth Rose to collaborate on “From the Fire.” For and her flight ‘was delayed more information, check out their website at Fromand delayed and it turns TheFireBook.com. out there’s a fire in Oregon and is heading her way. I get into Oregon after midnight and, along with us working on the book, she is packing up her house ... we are a friendship born of fire and this certainly reminded us of that.”

For more information on the book’s release, Artists, Galleries, check the website fromthefirebook.com.

Exhibits and More

More Inside 35 Arts of Ojai

The keynote speech will be delivered Friday evening at Krotona Hall by internationally recognized phytochemical researcher Dr. Kevin Spelman. Registration is $255 in advance and $285 the week prior.

Volunteers are needed to help staff the event in exchange for admission. For more information, email Lanny Kaufer at OjaiHerbalSymposium.org or call 805-646-6281.

J. FRANK KNEBEL & ‘SCARLET SKY’ There’s an interesting connection between a major motion picture release set for 2019, “Beneath a Scarlet Sky,” and Ojai. The film is based on the book by Mark Sullivan, and follows O the adventures of Pino Lella, a young Italian mountaineer and skiier who helps Italian Jews escape from Hitler’s clutches over mountain passes into Switzerland.

1. Lella’s “handler” when the Ameri Two Degrees of Separation Between cans march into Milan and begin pushOjai & Anyone, Anywhere

ing the Germans back into Austria is

2

of Ojai ?

OQ / FALL 2018

63 Food & Drink

Diners, Dives and Drive- ins of Ojai

113 Wellness

Healers, Hikers and Ojai-Based Medicine

an Army intelligence officer, Major J. Frank Knebel.

2. After the war, Knebel resumed his career as a newspaper editor, first in Garden Grove, then at the Ojai Valley News in 1958-59. Here, he encountered stiff winds of resistance to his pro-growth agenda, led by Rodney Walker (the story is planned for the Winter OQ.) He eventually moved to Fresno, then bought the Los Banos Enterprise. He died in 1973.

29

FILM FESTIVAL TO FETE ACTOR, CINEMATOGRAPHER McDowell, Kuras to be honored as 10-day event returns with films, workshops and more

By Kathleen Kaiser Filmmakers, film students, celebrities, entertainment professionals and movie aficionados will gather during the first ten days of November at the 19th Ojai Film Festival.

Since its founding in 2000, the Festival’s stated goals have been to provide audiences with opportunities to see groundbreaking work that would be otherwise inaccessible, and to provide filmmakers with enthusiastic audiences — including movie industry professionals.

Over the last decade Festival participation helped launch several careers. Two alumni have won Oscars.

Fifteen have been nominated. This year the Festival will screen over 90 films, documentaries and animations representing 33 countries.

At a Sunday Brunch on Nov. 4 the Festival will present two Lifetime Achievement Awards. Ojai local Malcolm McDowell will be recognized for his six-decades of cutting-edge work, which includes his roles as Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick’s “Clockwork Orange,” picaresque Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson’s trilogy (“If,” “O Lucky Man” and “Britannia Hospital”) and movie-mogul Terrence McQuewick in “Entourage.” A working actor, McDowell currently has seven projects in pre-production. A film screening of McDowell’s choice will be followed by Q&A , then a reception on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Ellen Kuras is one of few female members of the American Society of Cinematographers. She

Malcolm McDowell

is this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Cinematography.

Kuras is a pioneer best known for her work in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and three-time winner of the Award for Excellence in Dramatic Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Ojai Festival’s deep-directive is to provide educational seminars and workshops about the entertainment industry for new filmmakers and members of the community. A full day of professional-development seminars on Saturday, Nov. 3, is offered with Ms. Kuras leading a session on cinematography.

Laura Caulfield, president of Entertainment Solutions Corporation and member of the Ojai Film Festival’s Board of Directors, will lead a panel of motion picture studio vice-presidents in a discussion about the business and legal aspects of the filmmaking process, including rights, financing, production and distribution.

Emily Best (CEO of Seed and Spark) will lead a seminar on “The Art of The Pitch.” How to convey the specifics about your project in a dynamic, succinct way that can attract investors, collaborators and world-wide distribution.

The fourth industry seminar, “Action In Film,” is an illustrated discussion on

how stuntmen “pull off” the amazing stunts we see on screen and will be led by stuntman and stunt coordinator John Branagan on Sunday, Nov. 4. This session is a must for any producer or director who wants to meet the stu nt-people who make action happen and should be on the list of any film buff.

The Festival will host two free films for the Ojai community. The first iss “Mad Hot Ballroom” on Opening Night, Thursday, Nov. 1st, in the Libbey Bowl at 7 p.m. The second is “Kubo And The Two Strings,” an animated family-friendly 2016 Oscar nominated Japanese fairytale at the Arcade Plaza on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.

On Sunday, Nov. 10, the Festival screens “Loving Vincent,” a 2018 animated film, nominated for an Oscar. Following the screening, Tiffanie Mang and Charlene Mosley, two of the artists who handpainted the cells, will demonstrate their technique and discuss how the picture was made.

The winning screenplay from the Festival’s third annual competition will receive a live read using Ojai’s talented acting community on Sunday, Nov. 4. Other highlights in the jammedpacked schedule include a full day of Gold Coast films (produced by filmmakers from Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties), Focus Earth (hosted jointly with the Ojai Valley Green Coalition) and the annual Student Program, where high school filmmakers meet movie pros. The full schedule and tickets are available online at OjaiFilmFestival.com.

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Scott Ainslie with MC Diane Ferlatte 32

An Ancient Art Will Be Celebrated in Ojai Oct. 25-28 From October 25-28, a long-standing tradition will be carried out in Ojai’s Libbey Park Bowl and the Ojai Art Center, the 18th Annual Ojai Storytelling Festival. The festival, with something for everyone — adults, families, students — will, feature award-winning storytellers in both solo and combo performances, including numerous interactive storytelling workshops.

While this Ojai event harkens back to 2000, storytelling has been around for thousands of years, and Ojai Storytelling Festival organizer, Brian Bemel believes storytelling is in our physiological makeup. “Storytelling goes way back to when people recounted the events of their day around the campfire. This was passed on. It’s still in our DNA. In every family, there’s a storyteller. People love best to get together and retell stories of their own families in ancient times, but it’s just as vibrant now.”

This festival goes far beyond telling and listening, as the website says, “It’s not just a festival...It’s an Experience!” “What this means,” Bemel explains, “is that basically, when you go as an audience member you get involved. It fully engages each person in special ways. The other thing that happens when you go to our storytelling festival, is it brings up memories, and people begin to tell stories to other people in the audience.”

One excellent way to begin the festival weekend is with the “Meet the Tellers” event on Thursday (please see ojaistoryfest.org/schedule for performance dates), including featured tellers.

Storytellers include Diane Ferlatte, who will act as Mistress of Ceremonies, Kevin Kling, Scott Ainslie, Clark Murphy, Willy Claflin, Glenis Redmond, the Chameleons, Brian Finkelstein, Cole Kazdin with musical guests Alan Thornhill, Martin Young and Cindy Kalmenson.

The Ojai Storytelling Festival features many special events. “Unlike a lot of other festivals,” Bemel says, “we have a lot of different events besides stories. We have music, there are mimes, there’s poetry.

There are a lot of ways people are engaged.”

Special performances include a Friday night concert with singer/songwriter Cindy Kalmenson, who presents a variety of music genres. On Saturday night, Alan Thornhill and Martin Young, perform, a duo that has opened for Taj Mahal, Kenny Loggins, Jackson Browne and others.

OQ / FALL 2018

For the Kids “We have outreach performances for kids on Friday,” Bemel says. “We usually have about 2000 kids coming to festival, with two different performances, one for K-three.” Performers are The Chameleons, Ferlatte, and Claflin. For fourth-eighth graders, performers include Kling, Redmond, Murphy and Ainslie. “Teachers tell us,” Bemel says, “that after the festivals they note that students are reading more, writing more, telling stories.”

He adds, “Kids watch so much TV, and they’re all into their computers, it’s really nice for them to just listen to a story and let their imaginations run wild.”

Adults Only Saturday night at 9:45 on the Ojai Art Center Patio, it’s adult time, with “Naughty Tales Under the Stars on the Patio,” featuring Murphy, Redmond, Ainslie and special guest comedian Cary Odes, a regular at the Los Angeles Comedy Store, joke writer for NBC programming, and comedy teacher to at-risk youth.

On Friday there will be an Ojai-based presentation of “Stories without Apology - The Townies,” which director Kim Maxwell defines as “The Moth meets Prairie Home Companion... if Lake Woebegone were real.” The performance features stories of Ojai locals.

The End The Ojai Storytelling Festival wraps up on Sunday with the “Continental Breakfast and Farewell Tales,” featuring all the tellers. As much as the audiences enjoy these performers and may hate to see them leave, the performers enjoy Ojai, too.

Dianne Ferlatte says, “Some audiences are not that great at participation, but Ojai is not one of them. Ojai audiences are used to the festival now, they’re story lovers.”

Bemel says “I think the difference with storytelling is that there is no wall.” He adds that it’s more like a bridge between performer and audience.

Tickets for individual performances and for multi-event packages are available on the festival website. Packages include the all-festival adult and Senior Festival Pass; the 3-Show Saturday Special; the 2-Night Special; and the Child Pass. The Festival Pass includes a special reception with the story tellers on Thursday.

(Ojai Storytelling Festival, ojaistoryfest.org)

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ARTS & LITERATURE

52 Steeling the Show

Ojai Artist’s Work Adorns Harley Davidson Photo Shoot

36 Off The Shelf

Philip K. Dick’s Take On Our Town

43 Artist Comes Full Circle 60 Artists & Galleries

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P

hilip K. Dick, now widely considered the most brilliant of all science fiction writers, wrote hundreds of extraordinarily imaginative stories and 44 novels, and — like an innovative artist who only becomes famous after his death — in recent years has had his work splashed across all sorts of screens, including two current television series (“The Man in the High Castle,” and “Electric Dreams”) and numerous movies, including “Minority Report” and “Blade Runner.”

But before becoming known in science fiction in the 1960s, the relentlessly hard-working, fast-typing Dick wrote a half-dozen traditional novels. The best of these, most critics agree, is “Puttering About in a Small Land.” Although not

As Ojai contrasts with Los Angeles, Alt stands apart from the other characters in this post-war story. She runs the Los Padres Valley School, as it is known in the novel, and from her aerie in the hills looks down on the town, much as she seems to look down on the young couples in this novel.

returned to visit later in life. In “Puttering about in a Small Land,” the long drive from Los Angeles through the wild hills alarms the mother Virginia. Dick describes what is now the well-marked Highway 150 from Santa Paula to Ojai with a touch of the menace for which his imagination later became known.

In real life, Dick — the only child of unhappily married parents who divorced when he was five — attended such a school. His father abandoned the family, as the father in this book abandons his son, and as a teenager Dick himself attended a boarding school in Ojai, the long-gone California Preparatory School.

At that time the school was housed in what once was the grand Foothills Hotel.

Their road took them through a dense pack of trees, up a rise away from the farm country and orchards and fields.

Tangled growth appeared; they entered an abandoned area that gave her the shivers. The road became narrow and tortuous and again she was aware of the desolation, the between-towns emptiness.

Once, she and Gregg saw a hunter with a gun. Signs everywhere warned: NO TRESPASSING. PRIVATE PROPERTY.

off the shelf

Philip K. Dick

Ojai through the eyes of a great American writer

BY KIT STOLZ published until shortly after Dick’s death (in l985), it’s still in print, and though conventional in form, a little shocking in content: half suburban angst, half film noir. To read this book is to see a literary x-ray of Ojai, beautiful but stark, a place physically and psychically removed from the rest of Southern California.

Ojai in the novel has an almost frightening beauty. Dick focuses on the wealth and privilege of white people in Ojai as well as the unsettling allure of the land, the barren fire-scarred hills, prowled by hunters with guns, and walked by Mexican workers who know the land better than the white residents.

The dominant character in Ojai in the novel is the head of a private school, the imperious Mrs. Alt, who embodies the power and wealth of the school, but seems not to care for traditional middleclass values like fidelity in marriage.

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His counterpart in the novel, a boy named Gregg, is put in the school by his ambitious mother, Virginia, against the wishes of the father Roger Lindahl, a small-minded man who owns an electronics shop in Los Angeles. Mrs. Alt observes the conflict between these parents with cool dispassion. When Roger drives up to Ojai to pull Gregg out of school, the day after his wife enrolled the boy against his father’s wishes — because of the cost — Alt does not object. She returns the check, but observes sharply that the strong-willed Virginia was in “a state of great tension” when she dropped off Gregg the day before. To an admiring Roger, Mrs. Alt “was an “I-take-no-shitfrom-anyone woman.” Roger changes his mind and lets Gregg stay.

NO HUNTING OR FISHING. The hills had a hard, primitive vindictiveness, she thought. She noticed rusty barbed wire hanging from trees; it had been strung here and there and then — she supposed — cut away to make passage for some hunter.

Dick’s biographer suggests that his time at boarding school was a refuge from an unhappy family home for Dick.

Ojai appears to have awed him, and he

This “other woman” in real life, according to biographer Lawrence Sutin, was based on a dark-haired woman with whom young Dick had an affair after seven years

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Because the drive is hard on Virginia, at Mrs. Alt’s suggestion she and Roger carpool with another couple with boys at the school, the businessman Chic Bonner and his wife Liz. Roger ends up driving to and from the school with the attractive if restless Liz. She can tell he’s attracted to her, but scoffs out loud at the idea of a fling — and then impulsively changes her mind, weary of her overweight husband and his unsatisfying sexuality.

of marriage to his first wife. When Dick’s wife Kleo found out about the affair she went away for a time to let Dick think it over, and the affair cooled. Kleo let it pass, and in fact had the dark-haired woman (who has not been named by biographers) over for dinner with her. The dark-haired woman confessed to Kleo, “I never feel like I know a man unless I go to bed with him.”

In the novel, Roger’s Virginia discovers the affair, and confronts Liz. Liz wants to marry Roger, or even continue the affair.

Mrs. Alt at the school encourages Roger to marry Liz; she likes them both, and even set aside a room at the school for their

assignations. With a school group of kids and Mrs. Alt, Liz and Roger go on one last camping trip into the hills above the school.

They camp by a fire under the stars and Roger once again kisses Liz. But in the morning, unable to face her or his wife, Roger loads his car with televisions and leaves for Chicago, abandoning his life out West. Liz takes her two boys and leaves Chic, never speaking of her fling, so as not to lose custody. Chic goes into business at the electronics store with Virginia, who also never reveals the affair to Chic.

Their business succeeds, and Roger is not missed, and all seems placid -- on the surface.

Dick — who married five times in his 53 years — loved many women but could not make a marriage last. With a spectacular imagination, he dramatized his existential doubts about the trustworthiness of reality itself in his science fiction, but in “Puttering About in a Small Land” he brought forward smaller but similarly corrosive doubts about the American dream.

For him, far-off Ojai was a sort of temporary respite from the dreary suburban life of an everyman: beautiful

but harsh, and — despite its romance — ultimately unsustainable for most people.

In an introduction to a collection of his short stories issued many years later, Dick wrote: “I became educated to the fact that the greatest pain does not come zooming down from a distant planet, but up from the depths of the heart. Of course, both could happen; your wife and child could leave you, and you could be sitting alone in your empty house with nothing to live for, and in addition the Martians could bore through the roof and get you.”

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Clockwise from top left: Eilam Byle, Carlos Grasso, Christine Beirne, Jeff Mann, Richard Flores, James Petrucci, Sherry Loehr

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Full Circle Burned out of Ventura by the Thomas Fire, the distinguished artist Gerd Koch is back in Ojai, where his career began.

Story by Mark Lewis Portrait by Duane Eells

T

HE street sign says Shippee Lane, but it’s memory lane for Gerd Koch as his self-appointed chauffeur (yours truly) turns right off Thacher Road and drives south on Shippee toward Koch’s former home, the place where he first found himself as an artist.

That was back in the mid 1950s, when young Gerd, and his then wife and fellow artist Irene Koch, were still relatively new to Ojai. They bought two acres of undeveloped East End chaparral and

“Everything looks different,” he says, as we turn left from Shippee onto Calle Moreno, which dead-ends in the vicinity of Koch’s former property. Different how?

Well, in Gerd’s day, Calle Moreno was unpaved and his was the only house on it.

Nowadays it’s a smooth stretch of asphalt lined with houses, none of which appears to be the one he erected there six decades ago.

Koch is giving me a tour of his Ojai, or what’s left of it — the valley as he knew

Upper Valley and announced plans to start an art commune. Gerd was just 23 and utterly unknown in the art world, and Tree Ranch Road was a long way off the beaten path – yet somehow this announcement made news in Los Angeles.

“Community Project: Ranch Center Planned For Artists, Actors and Writers,” the Los Angeles Times reported in January 1953. “Three artists now form the nucleus of a group they hope will some day contain 10 members, all of them painters,

Gerd and son Keari in Ojai, 1973. built themselves a one-room house that doubled as their studio, although Gerd preferred to set up his easel outdoors.

it in the ‘50s and ‘60s. “It was very bohemian,” he says. “Then it became very hippy.”

His abstract-expressionist Ojai landscapes soon made a splash in Los Angeles, but he maintained his home base in Ojai until 1969, when he moved down the road to teach art at Ventura College. Then, last December, the devastating Thomas Fire destroyed the home Koch shared with his longtime partner, the distinguished painter Carole Milton. As a result, they have relocated to a rented house in Ojai, where her daughter lives. And so, after almost 50 years in Ventura, Gerd Koch at 89 is back in the community where he started out.

He has a story to offer for almost every building we pass, usually involving an art exhibit or event that he had shoehorned into some unlikely space.

“That’s where I gave my puppet show,” he exclaims as we pass the library.

Our tour ends where Koch’s tenure in Ojai began, on Tree Ranch Road in the Upper Valley. This was the site of his first Ojai address, before Calle Moreno. It was December 1952 when Gerd and Irene and their friend Ray Foster arrived in the

“Spring Garden with Sun Wet Path.” 1959. Courtesy LACMA.

poets, actors or photographers. They plan to incorporate and establish the community as much as possible on a selfsufficient basis.”

The commune did not last long, but the Kochs stayed on, having decided that Ojai would serve admirably as both their home and their muse.

Man from Motor City Born and raised in Detroit, Koch graduated from Michigan’s Wayne State University in 1951, armed with an art degree and a determination to put it to use by becoming a painter. This was the great age of abstract expressionism, and Koch embraced the ascendant style. But, instead of heading east to Greenwich Village and

Having decided to start an art commune, the Kochs signed up with a real estate agent who eventually steered them to an Upper Ojai ranch owned by the poet-actress-playwright Iris Tree, an Englishwoman who had founded the High Valley Theater and co-founded the Ojai Music Festival (which originally featured drama as well as music). By 1952, Tree was spending most of her time in Carpinteria and Santa Monica, so she rented her 23-acre Ojai ranch to the Kochs and Foster for $100 per month, along with Gerd’s promise to milk her cow and take care of her three horses. She also introduced him to the art critic Henry Seldis, who evidently was responsible for that Times piece — the first of many that would focus on Gerd over the next decade.

“When I first lived in Ojai I was always self-promoting,” he said in an oral history interview for the Focus on the Masters Archive and Library in Ventura.

a real-life Red Baron type, a former German fighter pilot from World War I. He was also an uncle of the Lennon Sisters, singing stars on “The Lawrence Welk Show,” who occasionally visited his ranch.

Koch’s other Ojai friends included the ceramicists Beatrice Wood and Frank Noyes; the painters Gui Ignon and David Bridge; the California cuisine pioneers Alan and Helen Hooker, founders of the Ranch House restaurant; the gallery owner Kay McPherson, a granddaughter of the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson; the siblings Kate and Arthur Hughes, Happy Valley School students and future artists; the architect Zelma Wilson; and miscellaneous eccentrics like the actor Norbert Schiller, who built a stone tower in his back yard. (It’s still there.)

“Ojai had so many interesting people,”

Gerd in his Ojai studio, 1959. Courtesy: Focus on the Masters. hanging out in the Cedar Tavern with Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollack, Koch headed west to Southern California in search of a rural idyll. He brought along his new bride, Irene, a fellow art major at Wayne State. They ended up in Santa Barbara, but not for long.

“I’d never heard of Ojai,” he says, “and just by luck I ended up in Ojai.”

This was despite being “super shy with lots of phobias,” he added. “But I made up my mind …

I had to get hold of myself and work through those things.”

The commune’s Upper Valley neighbors included two artists who worked in wood — Roy Patton, who carved marionettes, and Max Heinrich, a sculptor who lived across the road and helped Gerd round up Tree’s horses when they got out of their corral. Max was

Koch says.

He fit right in. What could be more interesting, in 1953, than a person who was starting an art commune? “Too early,” Koch notes. “It was ahead of its time.” Indeed, the commune broke up after only six months when Ray Foster pulled out. But Gerd and Irene doubled down on Ojai, buying the aforementioned two acres off of Shippee Lane for $1,000 per acre.

“The valley of Ojai is our experience,” Gerd and Irene jointly announced in 1956. “Not a sentimental experience but the strength of muted colors sun bleached, brilliant at twilight or during a rain … the beauty of homely things – of decayed wood, lichen, fungus, sage and buckwheat droppings. It is a feeling for the natural order of fallen limbs, leaves, and animal paths.”

When not painting or sculpting, Gerd worked as a janitor at the Ojai Playhouse movie theater, and as a gardener at the library. He also offered private lessons to budding artists like Frances Johnson, who would go on to a distinguished career as a Ventura County artist and museum curator.

“Frances was one of my first students when I came to Ojai,” Koch says. “I got her started.”

Later, in the ‘60s, Koch would begin teaching at the college level in Santa Barbara and Ventura. But in the ‘50s he focused more on his career as an artist. He was producing fine work, but L.A. tastemakers did not habitually look to Ojai to discover the next star artist.

They did, however, beat a path to Ojai for the annual Music Festival – especially in 1955, when droves of them came to town to watch the celebrated composer Igor Stravinsky serve as a guest conductor. With Stravinsky due to return to Ojai for the 1956 festival, Koch had a brainstorm.

Painters,” most of whom, like Gerd, were California abstract expressionists. When the group show finished its run, the Kochs took

Avant Gerd over the entire gallery for their own exhibit of paintings, drawings and sculpture.

“Gerd and Irene Koch live and cook on the ground on two acres in the Ojai Valley,” a Times reviewer wrote. “They translate the colors of growing things and earth about them into abstract painting of unusual beauty.”

Kienholz and Walter Hopps went on to found the famous Ferus Gallery, which featured Koch canvases along with those of Richard Diebenkorn and other future stars.

The Kochs now had established a promising beachhead in L.A., but Gerd did not neglect the opportunity represented by the Music Festival. Another celebrated composer, Aaron Copland, was scheduled to conduct in 1958, and this time Gerd went all out.

“I decided to have a show there but it was gutted,” he says, “so all my friends brought potted plants and we fixed it up real nice for three days.”

He and Irene organized “The First Invitational Festival Exhibition of Southern California Painters,” with Seldis and Ojai art dealer James Vigeveno serving on the awards jury. The artists Gerd invited to participate were all certified big names (the prize winners included Peter Voulkos and Howard Warshaw). The exhibit was held at the Art Center, where Koch cleverly mounted a concurrent exhibit on the patio of the better-known Ojai Valley painters, with himself and Irene among the participants.

Meanwhile, Koch friend Adele Bednarz mounted a special exhibit at her Gallery of Contemporary Arts, opposite the Oaks Hotel. As a final touch, Koch had Beatrice Wood and Esther Bruton Gilman hold open houses at their studios on McAndrew Road.

Twenty-eight years before the advent of the Ojai Studio Artists tour, the Kochs and their associates created a valley-wide arts festival.

Cultivating L.A. connections soon led to Koch’s first big break in the metropolis.

In September 1956, Gerd and Irene were included in a seminal event for L.A.’s fledgling avant-garde art scene: A group show at Edward Kienholz’s brand-new and very cutting-edge NOW Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard’s Gallery Row. The exhibit was called “Action2: Works By West Coast

Like the Tree Ranch Road art commune, the Festival Exhibition turned out to be an idea ahead of its time. But Gerd was just hitting his stride. Later in 1958, he and Irene scored a two-person show at the Pasadena Art Museum (now the Norton Simon). They also started teaching art classes at the new (and soon to be legendary) Ash Grove nightclub on Melrose Avenue, a folk-music venue co-

He noticed a vacant store on East Ojai Avenue, across from the Arcade. (The space currently is occupied by the Ojai Coffee Roasting Co.) The owner was in the process of remodeling it for his next tenant, and Koch took advantage of the transition to mount a pop-up “Gerd and Irene Koch” exhibit there for the duration of the Music Festival.

founded by their Ojai friend Kate Hughes and her boyfriend, Ed Pearl.

“I went down to L.A. quite often,” Gerd says.

“Made a lot of connections. And we were winning a lot of awards.”

The big one for Gerd came in 1959 when his painting “Spring Garden With Sun Wet Path” won the top prize at a major regional exhibit hosted by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “That really put me on the map,” he says.

Yet he and Irene remained in Ojai, far from the hard-partying Ferus Gallery scene.

By this point, Hopps and his partners were beginning to move on from abstract expressionism to Pop Art and Conceptual Art, and from championing up-and-coming California artists to representing already established stars from New York.

“They became such giants that it went to their heads,” Koch says of Hopps and Kienholz. Moreover, he and Irene did not share the Ferus crowd’s enthusiasm for burning candles at both ends. The Kochs had a young son, Keari, to think about, and anyway they preferred the peace and quiet of Ojai. “We didn’t fit into the partying situation,” Gerd says. “That’s why we left.”

The Kochs switched to the more sedate Esther Robles Gallery and carried on. By now they were well known in L.A. as Ojai artists whose oil paintings and watercolors drew inspiration from their rural surroundings. “Nature Tints Their Palate,” a Times story proclaimed in 1961. “Gerd Koch Works Accent Artist’s Ojai Environment,” was a Times headline from 1963, over a story describing Gerd’s subject as “the lush, wild growth of grass and shrubs that surround his Ojai studio.”

But Gerd’s time in Ojai was approaching its end. After earning a master of fine arts degree from UCSB in 1967, he joined the Ventura College Art Department as a fulltime professor. Preferring to avoid a daily commute, he moved to Ventura in 1969.

Irene remained in Ojai, where she continues to reside today, and the couple eventually divorced. (Gerd and Carole Milton have been together since 1980.)

coming full circle

When Gerd retired from Ventura College in 1998 at the age of 69, he was lauded as a distinguished artist, an inspiring teacher, a generous mentor, a prolific curator, an indefatigable leader of international tour groups and a tireless promoter of the arts.

At the time of his alleged retirement, he co-founded the Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Camarillo, and he has scarcely slowed down since.

“Gerd has always been a great organizer and promoter of causes dear to his heart,” says his friend Donna Granata, the founder and executive director of Focus On the Masters, and a former student of Koch’s. “Whether he is regaling a listener with his adventures of his numerous tours he organized to Europe, serving as a board member to a non-profit or championing the work of a fellow artist, Gerd shares his love and devotion to the arts every day ... Gerd’s encouragement has set so many of his students on their career path, mine included. That’s why we call him the Godfather of the art community.”

Koch has continued to exhibit his work in galleries and museums. For one Studio Channel Islands exhibit, the Ventura County Star reported that he was keeping his prices reasonable so that art lovers of modest means could afford to buy a painting.

Above: “Gerd Koch, 809 Via Cielito, Dec. 17, 2017.” Photo by Donna Granata, Focus on the Masters.

Below: “High Spring” 1962.

Courtesy Santa Barbara Museum of art

“All artists feel, particularly as they get older, that it’s better to distribute than to keep,” he told the Star. “One, so that more people can enjoy them. Two, I’m more comfortable when they’re out there instead of together in a bunch. I’m always afraid of fire.”

His fears were realized last December 4. Koch and Milton lived in her art-filled house on Via Cielito in Ventura’s Poinsettia neighborhood, near the top of a ridge. That night, a neighbor pounded on the door and warned them to get out now. Koch only had time to grab one of Milton’s paintings before the Thomas Fire roared over the ridge and reduced house and studio to ashes. Koch says he lost between 15 and 20 paintings and Milton lost even more. But they escaped with their lives and landed in Ojai, where the arts community has rallied around them. Their plan is to return to Ventura eventually, but in the meantime, Koch is back in his old stomping grounds, the place where he made his start, and where he learned a crucial lesson: To succeed as an artist, you have to take risks.

Thus Gerd on Tree Ranch Road at the tender age of 22, starting a ‘60s-style commune in the depths of the conservative 1950s.

Thus Gerd planting his flag in the middle of nowhere on Calle Moreno and painting abstract expressionist landscapes for which no market had yet been established. Thus Gerd overcoming his shyness to become a relentless networker and promoter as he built a long and distinguished career as an artist and educator.

“I just do it,” he says. “I stick my neck out.”

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Show Steeler

Ojai artist rolls out chainmail dress for motorcycle store

By Bret Bradigan

For a small village perched on the eastern edge of the Pacific Rim, Ojai has an outsized presence in the world of art. The latest example comes from chainmail artist Elaine Unzicker, who has called Ojai home since 2001.

W

orking the art festival circuit, she met a photographer, who asked if she could borrow a $10,000 piece of wearable art called “Splashes of Gold.”

(See cover photo.)

“Mind you, I had never met her before and I had little time to research her as she wanted to take the pieces that day. And, I was scheduled to do a show the following week with the pieces she might take. I decided to take a calculated risk!”

Unzicker met photographer, Stacia Morgan, in February of 2017 at the Coconut Grove Art Festival in Florida.

“Stacia had a photo shoot coming up

the weekend after at Peterson's Harley Davidson in Miami. ‘Splashes of Gold’ was chosen because the back consists of fabric-like folds similar to a bustle. The shortness in the back allowed the model to wear it on the motorcycle with ease.”

The model, Charlotte Godfrey flew in from London, “used a little bit of Stacia's makeup to get her ready, put my dress on and was ready to roll. Charlotte really loved wearing my dress according to Stacia,” Unzicker said.

Unzicker prefers to call the chainmail “authentic metal lace,” and has been creating garments in the medium for OQ / FALL 2018

decades. “Somehow living in Ojai allowed for larger pieces to come forth. Around 2003, I was working on a top when my instincts said, ‘this is not a top; it’s a dress — keep going.” I’ve learned to follow my instincts and try not to deny the creative passion.”

It paid off. That first dress, “Shimmering Free,” was featured in magazines and newspapers around the country and even went on tour. “It even won an award in an international art exhibit at the Palos Verdes Art Center,” she said.

The material is surprisingly supple and light in weight. And, given that Harley Davidson motorcycles are also a big part 53

of Ojai's identity, it’s not that big a stretch for Ojai, where arts and biker culture are both deeply embedded in the community. The common bond for artists and outlaws? Perhaps a compulsion to upset the apple cart of conformity, to take the constraints of convention and turn them into tools of freedom.

Unzicker said, “I'm not so familiar with the biker culture in Ojai.

However, the Deer Lodge still has a strong biker presence — you can't pass by there without seeing a stand of motorcycles!” Ojai’s storied motorcycle culture played only a small part in Unzicker’s inspiration. "’Splashes of Gold’ is a one-of-a-kind dress made from stainless steel chainmail or authentic metal lace as I like to call it.

Each dress can take up to two months or more to make.”

Unzicker’s art takes strength and patience.

“I'm able to purchase the stainless fabric, but cutting it is a labor-intensive process using wire cutters to cut each ring in a row for the size and shapes wanted,” she

said. “It's then a process of stitching it back together with rings which are then soldered closed. ‘Splashes of Gold’ did take about two months to make as it also has the gold appliqué sitting on top of the stainless.

The appliqué is put together one ring at a time, using pliers and gold anodized aluminum rings. Once the shape is

made, say the diamond, the shape is then stitched onto the stainless with more rings. Throughout it all, having a clear, consistent goal is key, but so is allowing each moment to inform the art,” she said.

“Inspiration comes from being present, present to my surroundings and listening to inner guidance. I'd also have to say I just love the way the material lays and falls over the body. I happen to create directly from the material and use sketches infrequently. The weight and movement of the authentic metal lace will move a design in an unexpected direction at times. But these unexpected happenings can often lead to moments of exquisite beauty,” she said.

This piece started out with a modest idea.

“For ‘Splashes of Gold’ I had started with the simple idea of wanting a v-neck for the beginning. Adding material from the v-neck, I started to see the form of the dress. Wanting to see how the dress feels and moves, I put it on more than once to gauge what was next. It's a process of allowing the design to take shape,” Unzicker said. "Splashes of Gold" is for sale. Price is $10,000 and Unzicker can be reached online at theunzicker.com or via phone at 805-646-4877.

Above: Photos by Stacia Morgan info@staciamorgan.com Model — Charlotte Godfrey. Taken at Peterson’s Harley Davidson, Miami, Florida.

“Splashes of Gold” dress

by Elaine Unzicker .theunzicker.com Left: Time Traveler Vest worn by the artist, Elaine Unzicker, photo by Deborah Lyon.

Photo by Betina LaPlante

Former Hell’s Angels Leader Returns to Ojai With One-Man Show

Photo of Katherine McClelland by Deborah Lyon, deborah@lyonimages.com

When it comes to Harley Davidson motorcycles and Ojai, it’s a match made in heaven. Hawg Heaven.

Ojai has a long history of outlaws, such as backcountry bandit Joaquin Murrietta.

George Christie, former head of the Hell’s Angels, Ventura Chapter, has chronicled his own life in the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club with his new one-man show, “Exile on Front Street,” co-written by Richard LaPlante.

Christie says, “Of course bikers love the Ojai Valley; perfect roads, perfect weather.” He moved to Ventura from another Hells Angels chapter in the San Fernando Valley, where he grew up. He now lives in Ojai, though he’s often on the road performing his show.

He is returning to Ojai for two performances of “Exile.” The shows are Wednesday, Oct. 10 and Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m. each night.

Tickets are $27.

Christie’s episodes on the History Channel’s “Outlaw Chronicles,” are among the channel’s highest rated.

He was also recently featured in Penthouse magazine.

In the mid-1970s, Christie, a veteran of the Marine Corps and Department of Defense, was already an officer in an Hells Angels chapter in Los Angeles, when he came up with the idea of opening a charter in Ventura and Ojai.

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What if the love of your life sees you in a whole new light?

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Whitman Architectural Design “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” Winston Churchill 56

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805.646.8485 www.whitman-architect.com

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Down Home

Explore Ojai’s Great Indoors

805.640.7225

250 E. Ojai Ave Ojai, CA 93023 downhomefurnishings.com

BookEnds Bookstore

& Curiosities new and used books

on Life, Liberty & Happiness 110 South Pueblo Avenue Ojai, California 93023 in Meiners Oaks, corner of El Roblar

open 10 am to 6 pm (closed Wed)

bookendsbookstore.com

805.640.9441

FLOWERS & FINDINGS JEWELRY • APOTHECARY • ART • CLOTHING • FRESH FLOWERS

205 N. Signal Street, Ojai (Behind NoSo Social Cafe)

SunstreamGoods.com

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ojaihub.com

Ojai’s community website 58

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Events • News • Explore

A MODERN BOHEMIAN CLOTHES

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+ SWIM BOUTIQUE BLUE CANDLES

Downtown Ojai 334 E. Ojai Ave.

KARIELLA.COM OQ / FALL 2018

COMING SOON! 59

VISUAL ARTISTS TO ENCOURAGE INTEREST AND EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS

RICHARD AMEND

Mysterious equations of abstraction, nature, architecture, and illumination rolled into the stillness and clarity of singular, psychological moments. “Thought Form #1: Clearing.” Oil on canvas, 48” x 36.” Contact: amend@ pobox.com or visit richardamend.net. 323-806-7995

DUANE EELLS

In his portrait commissions, Eells captures the essence of those he paints. His paintings are about empathy and connections.

Bold strokes are tempered with classical drawing principles. Visit eells.com 805-633-0055

JOYCE HUNTINGTON

Intuitive, visionary artist, inspired by her dreams and meditations. It is “all about the Light.” Her work may be seen at Frameworks of Ojai, 236 West Ojai Ave, where she has her studio.

805-640-3601 joycehuntingtonart.com

ELAINE UNZICKER

Inspired by medieval chain mail — stainless jewelry, scarves, purses, belts and wearable metal clothing. unzickerdesign.com 805-646-4877

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SUSAN STINSMUEHLEN AMEND

Paints on clear glass with kiln-fired enamels, mapping unpredictable rhythms of thought. Custom commissions for art and architecture welcome. susanamend@pobox.com, or call 805-844-8595. She is also on Facebook.

TOM HARDCASTLE

Rich oils and lush pastel paintings from Nationally awarded local artist 805-895-9642

KAREN K. LEWIS

Oil paintings, monoprints, etchings, drawings; figures, faces, landscapes, still lifes. www.ojaistudioartists. org/karen_lewis; lewisojai@mac.com.

805-646-8877 karenklewis.com

MARC WHITMAN

Original Landscape, Figure and Portrait Paintings in Oil. On display at the Ojai Design Center Gallery.

111 West Topa Topa Street. marc@whitman-architect.com Open every weekday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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CINDY PITOU BURTON

Photojournalist and editorial photographer, specializing in portraits, western landscapes and travel.

805-646-6263 798-1026 cell www.ojaistudioartists.org

ELISSE POGOFSKY-HARRIS

Negotiating the delicate agreement between being provocative and being pleasing to the eye. ojaistudio@aol.com 805-646-7141 P.O. Box 1214, Ojai, CA 93024

LISA SKYHEART MARSHALL Colorful botanical original paintings with birds and insects, prints and cards.

SkyheartArt.com. shahsi27@gmail.com 805-256-4209

NANCY WHITMAN

Nancy keeps the surface of the paintings interesting and alive. Influences have been Matisse, Jawlensky, Picasso and Bonnard. You can reach her at 805-525-3551 or email jnwhitman@live. com Studio is at 12615 Koenigstein Road.

ART GALLERIES

Fea & A turi rtis ng t ts o he A f O rt jai OVA ARTS

40+ LOCAL artists with a unique selection of contemporary fine arts, jewelry and crafts.

238 East Ojai Ave 805-646-5682 Daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. ojaivalleyartists.com

FIRESTICK GALLERY

Firestick Pottery provides classes, studio/ kiln space and a gallery abundant with fine ceramics. Located at 1804 Ojai Avenue, we are open from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. every day but Tuesday. 805-2728760.

NUTMEG’S OJAI HOUSE

Featuring local artists, including William Prosser and Ted Campos.

American-made gifts and cards, crystals, new and vintage goods.

304 North Montgomery Street, Ojai 805.640.1656

HUMAN ARTS GALLERY

An arts destination for 43 years! Featuring a colorful, diverse, often whimsical collection of hand-made furniture, art, jewelry, glass, clothing and sculpture.

246 East Ojai Avenue.

805-646-1525 humanartsgallery.com

TARTAGLIA FINE ARTS

Original art with a focus on Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles County artists.

307 East Ojai Avenue 805-646-0967 tartgaliafineart.com

ANCA COLBERT

Art Advisory and Appraisal. Experienced, guidance with art collections, documentation, insurance valuations, etc.

By appointment TheColorOfLight.com 805-624-5757

PORCH GALLERY

Contemporary Art in a Historic House.

310 East Matilija Avenue, Ojai 805-620-7589 porchgalleryojai.com instagram/Porchgirl1

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LATITUDES FINE ART GALLERY

Ventura’s only fine art gallery exclusively dedicated to showcasing the beauty of Ventura County in fine art photography.

401 East Main Street, Ventura. 805-642-5257 latitudefineart.com

DAN SCHULTZ FINE ART

Plein air landscapes, figures and portraits in oil by nationally-acclaimed artist Dan Schultz.

106 North Signal Street, Ojai 805-317-9634 DanSchultzFineArt.com

STUDIO SAUVAGEAU

Exquisitely handcrafted bags 305-G East Ojai Avenue New Location! studiosauvageau.com 805-798-2221

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OJAI WINE & DINE

67 Food & Drink

Ojai Authors, Cooking with Books

73 Chef Interview

Gabrielle Chesneau, Food Harmonics

76 Wine Map

Finding, Enjoying Top Vintners

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Ojai Cafe Emporium Ojai’s favorite gathering and eating place for over 30 years.

Voted Best Bakery, Breakfast & Lunch Place ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘13 ‘14 ‘15 ‘16

805 646 2723

108 S. Montgomery Street / off Ojai Ave www.ojaicafeemporium.com BREAKFAST Served All Day Every Day LUNCH Served Daily11am-3pm BAKERY & COFFEE BAR Open Daily 6:30am-3pm

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& DRINK FOOD BON APPÉTIT

Cooking With Books

Ojai Home to Authors and Kitchen Maestros

By Ilona Saari Growing up, my mom had two cookbooks: Schrafft’s and McCall’s. My grandmother relied on Fanny Farmer.

Today, my husband and I have about 100. OK, maybe not 100, but a lot.

My husband loves to cook. He collects recipes the way I’d like to collect diamonds. I love reading cookbooks, though, and dream of the meals he will make when I look at gorgeous food porn … one mouthwatering picture is in “Provence, the Beautiful Cookbook,” roast chicken stuffed with hundreds of garlic cloves. OK, maybe not hundreds, but a lot (40!).

Since moving to Ojai, I’ve discovered that our enchanted valley is well-stocked with adventurous chefs, caterers and cooks who have written cookbooks, so I now own a collection of beautiful Ojai cookbooks.

My first was Karen Evenden’s “Ojai’s Table.” She began planning meals for her family at age 13 and earned a Betty Crocker scholarship to study home economics at Cornell University, cementing her love of cooking. After working as a social worker in Detroit, she and her husband, Bill, lived in a variety of cities, including Sydney, Australia before settling in Seattle where she worked in the non-profit world. Soon, though, her love of cooking resurfaced.

She opened a kitchen store and ran a cooking school, where chefs from local restaurants taught classes.

After retirement, Karen and Bill left Seattle to live on a 50-foot sailboat and cruise the Mediterranean, an adventure that lasted almost seven years, with a

layover in Croatia which inspired Karen’s first cookbook, “A Taste of Croatia” (unfortunately, no longer in print).

Returning to America, they moved to Ojai in 2003 and started farming pixie tangerines, olives and lavender, Mediterranean ingredients that Karen loves to add to her recipes. In 2013 she OQ / FALL 2018

Karen Evenden ‘Ojai’s Table’ published her second cookbook, “Ojai’s Table” (available at Rains Department Store). Karen is also the food writer for the yachting magazine “PassageMaker,” teaching fellow boaters how to cook delicious recipes in a galley kitchen.

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Karen has also taught classes at the Lavender Inn and at Help of Ojai, focusing on low cost, heart healthy recipes. Recently she donated a cooking class she’ll be conducting this fall at the hospital fundraiser. No wonder she’s been named an Ojai Living Treasure!

left America and lived a vagabond life, traveling through Europe in a VW camper, tasting and cooking regional foods before returning to the States.

Settling in Ojai, she caters, conducts cooking classes and writes cookbooks specializing in Mediterranean cuisine.

“A Taste of Ojai,” and “Wine Country Recipes” are just two. Robin’s cookbooks are featured in Rains Department Store, Carolina Gramm's Extra Virgin Olive Oil tasting room, Ojai Valley Museum Store, and the Libbey Market at The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. For more information on her catering, cooking classes and cookbooks, go to: privatechefrobin. com.

When Randy Graham moved to Ojai from Roseville, California where his vegetarian chili was legendary, he re-invented himself from public official to chef, caterer, and cookbook author. Known for his vegetarian “comfort” food, he’s been called an Ojai food “treasure.” If you’ve eaten his food, you won’t disagree. Randy loves to cook for friends and family with ingredients from his backyard vegetable/ herb gardens, but you don’t need his garden to make Randy’s dishes. That’s why we have grocers and farmers’ markets.

When I asked his favorite recipe, he didn’t hesitate: “Phenomenal Potatoes” found in his “Ojai Valley Vegetarian” cookbook: potatoes, butter, Asiago cheese and cream… oh, my!!! Au gratin potatoes kicked up a bit to an oh, so creamy, melty cheese heaven.

Visit Randy’s website: valley-vegetarian. com or find his books at the Ojai Village Pharmacy, Lavender Inn and The Medicine Shoppe.

Randy Graham, ‘Ojai Valley Make-Ahead Cookbook’

Robin Goldstein, ‘A Taste of Ojai’ Private Chef Robin (Goldstein) is the proud mom of budding stage star Chiya Newman, but Robin’s stage is the kitchen. Cooking is in her DNA. Her grandfather owned the Golden Parrot, a restaurant in D.C. that catered to the town’s politicians, and her father owned, Chase, a “continental cuisine” restaurant in Chevy Chase. Basically shy, Robin blossoms and becomes an extrovert when cooking. Like an artist in her studio, she feels totally at home in the kitchen. Cooking is her art … her canvas, a blank plate.

After studying at the renowned Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, she soon discovered catering and, at age 25, owned her own catering company. But, during a “midlife crisis” (as she describes it), Robin 68

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To quote Emily Burson, who has a degree in Nutrition from Pepperdine, where she currently teaches Food Service Management, “managing kitchens where the definition of cooking meant opening a box of frozen food and putting it in the oven drove me to start School Nutrition Plus (SNP).”

Her approach is similar to famed British chef, Jamie Oliver, whose American TV shows had him invading public schools, showing reluctant staffs how to shop healthfully, while teaching the students that there was more to food than pizza and hot dogs. Emily exposes kids who live in a chicken-nugget/French fry world to delicious “from-scratch” food made with fresh ingredients and is lobbying for healthier food choices in all schools.

Scott Daigre ‘Tomatomania’ Like most kids, Louisiana-born and raised Scott Daigre loved playing in the dirt, specifically ‘Delta’ dirt. Well, what do you expect when you’re digging in your grandfather’s garden that produced delicious Creole tomatoes? (It’s all about the soil!) As long as he can remember he’s loved getting his hands dirty planting tomato gardens. It’s in his roots.

And, after a long career in marketing, Scott turned his love for gardening into “Tomatomania!!!”

… blends them all together, then heats it up for a great, always different, sauce for pasta, chicken, fish or meat (steak pizzioli!!!). His cooking advice: ignore cooking rules … experiment! Try a sauce or soup made with cherry tomatoes and your fridge’s contents (well, you can leave the diet Coke where it is) … you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Find out more at tomatomania.com. *A Tomatomania footnote: Scott also offers a fundraising version of Tomatomania to students, who can sell seedlings to raise money for their school gardens.

Started in the early ‘90s at Hortus, a nursery in Pasadena, California, Tomatomania began with 25 tomato varieties. Within a few years it had 275 varieties to sell, and a one-day seedling sale event grew into a five-day affair.

Today, Tomatomania includes classes, sales events, tomato tastings, and impromptu social gatherings at popular nurseries and gardening hotspots all over California… and let’s not forget the cookbook Scott co-authored with Jenn Garbee.

Not a professional chef, Scott dubs himself a “garden gumbo cook” (that Delta roots thing). His favorite recipe is not a recipe but a “use everything for everything” approach to cooking.

For tomato sauces he uses tomatoes at hand — from cherry to Romas and all varieties in between … then roasts them with whatever’s in his garden or fridge… veggies, scallions/onion/shallots, herbs

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“A Chef Walks Into a Cafeteria,” her debut cookbook with Chef Brandon Neumen and the rest of the SNP team, honors the flavor values of scratchcooking and shares the keys to creating delicious, healthful meals that children and adults will enjoy making together.

Some signature dishes are chicken chow mein with fresh veggies and steak street tacos.

To learn more, check out: schoolnutritionplus.com or find Emily’s cookbook at FOUND 203 Studio.

Book ‘em, Danno!

Emily Burson, ‘A Chef Walks Into A Cafeteria’

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Celebrating 32 Years Breakfast

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Sea FreSh SeaFood

Restaurant, Sushi Bar and Fresh Fish Market

805-646-7747

• 533 E. Ojai Avenue, Ojai

Visit our

Honey Tasting Room 206 East Ojai Avenue in the Arcade, downtown Ojai

heavenlyhoneycompany.com | 805-633-9103 70

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Food Harmonics: Nourishing Body and Soul

By Sarah Howery Hart

A recent Sunday visit with Gabriella Chesneau, owner of Food Harmonics in Ojai’s Arcade, found her busily helping her staff attend to a mid-day Sunday crowd of customers lined up from the mid-restaurant order station, clear out the front door.

This was a happy group, lots of chatter and laughter, including not just customers, but also the Food Harmonics staff, cooking, serving, smiling, like a Norman Rockwell painting portraying the restaurant’s motto: "We are Love, our true nature is love.”

It’s such a part of everything that is real to me, I have to bring it into everything I do.

When I open the doors to this restaurant, the way customers are greeted, received and the food prepared for them is with that in mind.

The Food Harmonics Philosophy

OQ: You also state on your website, “Health and joy are possible for everyone." You have a doctorate in education and a master’s in clinical social work and still work as a psychotherapist. Does this motto and your

Ojai Quarterly: First, let’s talk about your motto, "We are Love, our true nature is love.”

What do you mean, when you say, “We are Love”?

Above: Food Harmonics staff (left to right) Krystina Regan, Ciara Becerra, Manager David Taylor, Gabriella Chesneau and a former staff member in the kitchen. (Photography: Mariana Schulze)

Gabriella Chesneau: What I mean by “We are love,” is that’s the essence of who we are. It could be that we are consciousness, or God, I’m just pointing to the truth with capital T of who we are.

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opening a restaurant relate in part to your work with people in this regard?

GC: My goal was never to open a restaurant, but I’m a foodie and a health foodie. I was doing my private practice, and a friend came to town with extraordinary culinary experience.

We had a lot in common, and she worked with me. She was here temporarily; we had so much fun using our knowledge about how food can bring the body back in balance, about not bringing more toxins into the body.

OQ: In addition to a distinct motto and philosophy, you have chosen a very distinct geometric pattern for the Food Harmonics logo.

You even have a tattoo of that symbol. What does it represent?

GC: It’s the Sri Yantra, a Vedic symbol. Vedic philosophy is ancient. My understanding of it, it’s nine intersecting triangles that represent the earth, the heavens, the universe, and how they intersect. In some traditions, it’s the supreme power, like the love coming to earth. It all goes back to “We are love.

Calming the Body and Mind OQ: You state that Food Harmonics makes healthy amazing food and serves healing food and drink in an environment that calms the body and mind. What about your décor? Was it designed to have a calming effect?

GC: The predominant color is a soft Dover White, an uplifting light color chosen for its lightness. The tables are a beautiful blue, and I have as many natural elements as possible. For instance, some of the wooden shelves came from a fallen tree on Creek Road, a 350-year-old oak. We also have crystals.

The Calming menu OQ: Regarding your goal to serve calming foods and beverages, you state “We know a balanced, harmonized physical body will support the same in emotions and mind,” and you seem to have been ahead of the curve. For instance, a 2016 mindbodygreen.com article, lists calming foods that have always been a focus on your menu, including complex carbs (such as sweet potatoes, lentils), nuts and seeds, tea, green leafy vegetables, coconut oil and ghee and bone broth. You’ve had all of these foods well-represented on your menu.

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GC: This is the reason we also have ingredients like nuts and seeds in our brownies and our bread. And, we do have bone broth, which contributes to the healing of the gut. The gut lining can be compromised, and the result is that foods can pass through the gut lining. Bone broth actually has the collagen that will heal the gut lining, and fermented foods will provide the favorable probiotics and the flora.

Current research is highlighting the importance of healing the gut, both lining and flora. What they’re realizing is that there are a lot of ailments and serious illness that are found concurrently with the patient or the person having a compromised gut.

OQ: And, you have a variety of teas, including the Longevity Tea and the Turmeric Tusli Chai. Your beverages seem to go beyond the normal offerings we see on other menus, with your ingredients such as turmeric, cardamom, and your “Dragon herbs,” luo han guo and schizandra. What are some of your favorite teas?

GC: One of my favorites is our “Love Tea Blend.” It has four amazing ingredients, roasted dandelion, burdock root, holy basil tulsi and rooibos. Our Immunity Blend has echinacea leaf, thyme, green leaf stevia and hawthorn berry. It’s an incredible immune booster. It loves the body back.

OQ: Your Food Harmonics menu certainly features a high percentage of calming foods and beverages, and it has always also been ahead of predicted trends. For instance, even earlier, it featured 2018 food trends predicted by gourmetinsider.com, including fermented foods such as sauerkraut.

You feature sauerkraut in many of your dishes, including the Salad Bowl, Bison Burger, and it’s served with your dosas.

GC: Fermentation is a big part of this restaurant. Sauerkraut is on every plate, all the main dishes. It’s important to eat a little sauerkraut with every meal because sauerkraut is a fermented food, and eating fermented food actually promotes digestion. Fermentation makes the food probiotic … We have sauerkraut, pickled onions, sometimes kimchi.

That’s why we also put our sauerkraut on all of our main dishes.

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OQ: Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spices were also on the gourmetInsider. com prediction list, and again, your menu has reflected this trend with your dal and its curry spice blend and the turmeric matcha latte, with its variety of spices.

GC: We have the healing spices, the turmeric, the cinnamon that lowers bloods sugar, cayenne, coriander, ginger, the herbs and spices that are the most healing. They’re all throughout our foods. I consider spices and herbs just as important as anything else. I actually consider this as a food group.

OQ: What other healing ingredients do you feature?

GC: And then there is CBD! The health benefits are significant, especially as an anti-inflammatory and pain remedy, so we look for ways to get it into our food.

The trending menu OQ: There are other types of food trends that you have been ahead of, too, including the trend that came in Number 1 in a forbes.com article, “Mindfulness,” as it relates to the body-mind connection and foods.

GC: The word mindfulness is something that comes up constantly with my staff.

It goes back to when you’re mindful and present in your body. Your body gives you information on how it’s feeling.

You need to be mindful of your body.

Once your body is in balance, there is more of that connect between brain and emotions. People can be truly mindful, can tell immediately how a food impacts them. Once you’re mindful, and you can make choices, be purposeful in your actions, go to the grocery store, choose healthy items, not forgetting to look for all the hidden sugars.

Mindfulness is a very big piece of it all.

It’s an organizing principle for changing our eating ways. Know where your food comes from – this requires you to be mindful. If you learn about a food you want to eat, would you still choose to eat it? The bottom line is, do we choose health and kindness or do we robotically fill the gut.

Our menu is heavily vegan. In a perfect world, in terms of how the planet can support the people and the amount of food production, we are all going to have to become vegan.

vegan, vegetarian, paleo

the food harmonics customer

OQ: Speaking of being vegan and vegetarian, your website states that you created a 90 percent plant-based menu in order to highlight alternatives to animal products. However, you offer paleo menu items. For instance, your bison burger, and you have chicken and

OQ: Looking around Food Harmonics, it’s evident that your customers are eclectic. What would you say is your average customer profile?

GC: I am beyond delighted to report that my customers span the entire age spectrum. Those in their 20s and 30s

instance, we cater at Hanuman Gardens.

They grow organically; they’re there to serve. They bring groups like Ram Dass retreats. I also cater for Hamsa Dance Studio. They bring in groups of people with a purpose of inspiring and making the world a better place.

back to the future OQ: You already have a thriving, growing business here. What are your plans for the future? Perhaps a cookbook?

GC: Yes, a cookbook. I want it to be about the journey of Food Harmonics, the reasons why the menu is designed the way it is. I want to educate people, get people to start fermenting, to get our grains, to make their own kefir. I want to teach people how to ferment and pickle foods. I want to bring in the understanding of how your food impacts you. There will be some practical recipes, too.

Bison burger and sweet mash, a Food Harmonics classic. bison options for your salad bowl.

CG: My cause is not to judge what people are doing, but food has become divisive on our planet. I’m looking for a way to present and talk about food that will bring us together, increasing the awareness of the food choices, and the health of their body and the health of the planet. I only offer two types of meat, bison and chicken. The meat I’m offering is humanely raised by a family that understands the impact of freeroaming animals on the land. It’s more than raising meat, because the family raising the buffalo and allowing them full freedom to roam on their land is helping re-wilding the threatened ecosystem of the grassland prairies. We know that animal consumption has to be drastically reduced in order for the planet to course-correct and survive, but we also know that fighting with the majority of the planet and judging their choices is not the way.

understand what I’m doing. Some will come up and thank me for being plantbased. However, I feel like a majority of our customers are very well educated on food. They’ll see that we have sauerkraut and will ask for an extra serving. They also know to have kefir water.

There’s definitely a following here, many for the simple reason that if they eat this food they feel better. For instance, I believe it’s really helping people to not eat gluten. So many people ask me, ‘What items are gluten free,’ and when I say the whole restaurant is gluten free, you visually see a sigh of relief. Someone left us a message on one of our napkins telling us, “I love this place, I feel so wonderful and appreciated as a human being. I am grateful to you.” This sums up the experience.

People will even rent out the whole patio or the whole restaurant for their events.

OQ: And you now cater outside events, also.

GC: We do, and our priority is to cater to groups who understand this food. For OQ / FALL 2018

OQ: What about your in-house store.

What do you sell?

GC: We sell our vegan pesto, cashew cheese, our bread. We’re trying to get it to the point where people can buy everything, and we’re now also selling the dosas, our pizza crust, and our kefir water. Also, by order, the raw vegan cheesecake and the sweet potato brownies. We now ship our bread, too.

OQ: And, you have a remarkable staff.

GC: I am very conscious of the fact that I cannot do this alone, and the team and the staff mean everything to me. I am indebted to David Taylor who has stepped in as manager. I consider us to be an incredible team, and what he brings to the project is extraordinary. We are making everything everyday from scratch.

OQ: Is there anything else you see in your future?

GC: I’m launching an initiative called “Plant Change,” about how man and the planet connect through food. There will be a website, and there may be lectures.

It’s about the man-planet intersection, which is food, both in how it’s grown and consumed.

For my future, I’m interested in leaving an impression on this planet that’s kind, helps us reach a higher potential.

Everything I do rides on that.

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EXPRESS

LOVE espresso | breakfast | lunch

SOCIAL CAFE

205 N. Signal, Ojai | 805.646.1540 NoSoVita.com Open daily 7am - 5pm

1103 Maricopa Hwy, Ojai

(located in the Vons Shopping center)

Breakfast & Lunch 7:00am - 2:30pm Dinner Served Thurs-Sat (805) 646-5346 76

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Pizza,Pasta Wings, Salads Sandwiches We deliver

Open daily

646-7878 Mon - Thu 13 Happy hour

331 E. Ojai Ave. Downtown Ojai

beers on draft

TheOnlyGoodPizza.com

Marché Gourmet

Delicatessen and

Art Gallery Plein Air Oils from the Painting Chef

ESPRESSO • PASTRIES • CHEESE • WINE • SANDWICHES • SALADS • SOUPS

Great Sandwiches & Weekly Specials!

Vegetarian, Vegan & Gluten-Free Options! www.MarcheGourmetDeli.com 133 E. Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA

OQ / FALL 2018

805•646•1133 77

CASA BARRANCA ORGANIC WINERY & TASTING ROOM Historic Downtown Arcade. Stop by and relax in Casa Barranca’s Craftsman style-designed tasting room. Taste our award-winning wines made with organically grown grapes, also our USDA certified wines containing no added sulfites! Join our Wine Club!.

208 East Ojai Avenue, 805-640-1255. OPEN DAILY: Sunday — Thursday 1 to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday until 1-7 p.m. CasaBarranca.com or facebook.com/casabarranca VENTURA SPIRITS Ventura Spirits is a California Craft Distillery specializing in distilled spirits inspired by the native and cultivated flora of California’s Central Coast. We offer distillery tours and tastings of our award winning spirits in our new onsite tasting room. For more information or to contact us please visit: venturaspirits.com, email to: info@ venturaspirits.com or call us at: (805) 232-4313

TOPA MOUNTAIN WINERY Topa Mountain Winery offers handcrafted wines made from grapes grown on its estate in upper Ojai and sourced from other premium vineyards in the region. Located on two acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, Topa Mountain Winery has been voted Ventura County’s best Tasting Room two years in a row, is family and dog friendly and offers live music every Saturday and Sunday.

MAJESTIC OAK VINEYARD Hidden in the stunning Ojai Valley, the Majestic Oak Vineyard is deeply rooted on land our family has held for decades. As fifth generation Ojai-ans, we had a dream of bringing you the quintessential Ojai experience — something as beautiful and unique as the Valley itself.

We believe a great bottle of wine represents the hard work that goes into it. From the land, to our hands, to your table, we are proud to offer you our labor of love. We invite you to be part of our legacy. It’s not just our wine; it’s our story. 321 East Ojai Avenue (downstairs), 805-794-0272, MajesticOakVineyard.com.

BOCCALI VINEYARDS & WINERY is a family-owned and operated winery located in the scenic Upper Ojai Valley. Father and son winemakers DeWayne and Joe Boccali are the driving forces behind the label. Boccali Vineyards produces 100 percent estate wines; grown, produced and bottled at Boccali Ranch. Visit us in Ojai’s East End on weekends for a tasting at 3277 East Ojai Avenue in Ojai. Visit us on the web at BoccaliVineyards.com.

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OLD CREEK RANCH WINERY Old Creek Ranch Winery is Ventura County’s only rural winery situated on an 850-acre ranch in the Ojai Valley. A tasting room as well as lawns and guest areas with handcrafted chairs and couches, surrounded by lush landscaping, have been designed for relaxing and enjoying fine wines. Pack a picnic, gather up the kids and dog, and head to the Ranch! A selection of 25+ red and white varietals are available for wine tastings and purchase. Check oldcreekranch.com for a schedule of live music and food trucks. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Located at 10024 Old Creek Road, Ventura, CA 93001. 805-649-4132. OldCreekRanch.com OQ / FALL 2018

OJAI OLIVE OIL Ojai’s no. 1 rated visitor experience, our Olive Mill & Tasting Room is open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for free tastings and shopping. We also offer free guided tours on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit an organic family permaculture farm and learn everything about extra virgin oil. We also have balsamic vinegars, olive trees, skin care products and more. No reservations required, pets welcome. 1811 Ladera Road , Ojaioliveoil.com, 805-646-5964.

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OJAI ALISAL’S handcrafted wines are made only with grapes we grow in Upper Ojai. We grow Syrah, Grenache, Malbec and Viognier in our beautiful vineyards dotted with California walnuts and sycamores (or Alisal in Spanish), bringing the spirit of the Rhone region to California. Please visit our Weekend Tasting Room at Azu Restaurant, 457 East Ojai Ave, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12 noon to 5 p.m.. For more information 805-640-7987 or online at ojaialisal.com and azuojai.com.

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&

A MATCH MADE FOR OJAI In addition to more than 300 free locations around Ojai, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Montecito, the OQ and Barnes & Noble have

teamed up to share Ojai through our exclusive deal with the prestigious booksellers.

It is our goal to elevate our image

MARINA DEL REY THE GROVE, LOS ANGELES FULLERTON PALM DESERT OCEANSIDE CORONA

NEWPORT BEACH SANTA MONICA SANTA CLARITA SAN LUIS OBISPO THOUSAND OAKS ALISO VIEJO

IT’S WHERE YOU WANT TO BE! 80

and allure throughout the region.

Tell your friends or acquaintances in these cities to “look for the Ojai label.”

ORANGE CALABASAS MANHATTAN BEACH ALAMEDA SAN DIEGO SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA OjaiHub.com

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GRAIN FREE BITES & TRAIL MIXES

made with

ORGANIC Sprouted Nuts & Seeds

NUTRIENT DENSE SNACKS WITH SATISFYING CRUNCH Locally made and available at a store near you!

Visit larkellenfarm.com/stores

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ORMACHEA JEWELRY Specializes in hand-made, artisan jewelry creations; offering custom and unconventional engagement ring design in precious metals with unique gemstones. Each piece is slowcrafted in our studio by the sea.

432 East Main Street, Ventura 805.652.0484 Info@ormacheajewelry.com OrmacheaJewelry.com

JES MAHARRY Artisan and famed Sundance jeweler Jes MaHarry has teamed with her sister Wendy MaHarry to create the perfect space for their magical creations. Walk into the boutique and you will instantly feel surrounded by beauty.

316 East Ojai Avenue (In the Arcade) 877.728.5537 • Jesmaharry.com

OJAI’S GEMS

GEM QUEST 18 karat yellow and white gold with yellow sapphire and diamonds. Hand made at Gem Quest Jewelers 324 E Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA 93023 Phone: (805) 633-4666

HUMAN ARTS GALLERY Ojai’s most interesting and eclectic contemporary jewelry by nationally known artists, plus exciting new ideas for custom designed wedding rings by owner and resident jeweler Hallie Katz.

246 East Ojai Avenue.

805.646.1525 humanarts@sbcglobal.net humanartsgallery.com

PA T T Y WA LT C H E R

20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE MATCHING PEOPLE AND PROPERTY IN THE OJAI VALLEY

Completely rebuilt Spanish style 5-bedroom in the heart of Ojai, with gourmet kitchen, open floorplan, gated driveway, exquisite landscaping and outdor entertainment area.

308Shad yLaneO jai. com

Serene and spacious family home close to downtown Ojai, with a private, fenced yard and pool, mountain views, a full granite kitchen and brand new floors throughout.

111 0Sunset PlO jai. com

PATTY WALTCHER

I will help you discover the home that brings peace to your mind and heart

(805) 340-3774 pattywaltcher.com

We know Ojai.

This charming home minutes from downtown Ojai and Lake Casitas offers three bedrooms, office, formal and casual dining, family room, workshop with covered deck, owned solar panels, stone fireplace, drought-tolerant landscaping, two walk-in closets, and custom upgrades throughout. $789,000

277+ Acre Ranch with 5 Houses, Horse Facilities, Stunning Views & More www.29443hwy33.com $6,250,000

Luxury, 12-Acre Horse Ranch with 5-Bedroom Home and Top-Ranked Equestrian Facilities www.10901CreekRoad.com $3,500,000

IN ESCROW

Enjoy the charm of a 1941 farmhouse with versatile rooms, great views, and approximately 2.58 acres of flat, usable land. $1,250,000

Gated, two-bedroom, one-bathroom home with separate studio, large workshop, RV parking and plenty of room for toys. $619,000

The Davis Group ojaivalleyestates.com

Nora Davis

BRE License #01046067

805.207.6177

nora@ojaivalleyestates.com

We’re lifelong residents.

This five-acre horse property minutes from downtown Ojai, schools, the Ojai Valley Trail, and Lake Casitas features a four-bedroom, three-bathroom main house and a two-bedroom guest house on flat, usable land with heritage oaks and mountain views.

$1,650,000

www.1175CamilleDrive.com

www.1577KenewaStreet.com

$2,895,000

Remodeled 4 BR + 2.5 BA Farmhouse on 3+ Acres with Guest House, Barn, Solar Panels and Orchard $1,665,000 www.990LomaDrive.com

Remodeled, three-bedroom Oaks West home with wood floors, gas fireplace, low-maintenance landscaping and RV parking. $674,000

Rare opportunity to buy Gateway Plaza! Oak View shopping center with long-term occupants, large parking lot and great location. $1,795,000

5 Bedroom Horse Property with Guest House, Pool, Horse Facilities and Views

Kellye Lynn

BRE License #01962469

805.798.0322

Window fashions that have every style covered

Alustra ® Vignette ® Modern Roman Shades

Duette® honeycomb shades

Chisum's Floor Covering 118 Bryant St Ojai, CA

Hunter Douglas offers a wide variety of window fashions in an array of fabrics, textures and colors. Contact us today.

We’re the Hunter Douglas experts, guiding you in the selections that’ll make your home even more beautiful whatever your style.

M-F: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sat: By Appointment Sun: Closed

Ask us about: • Special savings on select Hunter Douglas operating systems • Free measuring and installation • The Hunter Douglas Lifetime Guarantee

805-646-2440 www.chisumsfloor.com Contractor Lic. #242944 Ask us about special savings on select Hunter Douglas operating systems.

©2018 Hunter Douglas. All rights reserved. All trademarks used herein are the property of Hunter Douglas or their respective owners. 8338530

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A Taste of Ojai Awhai Pottery Axxess Ventura BeCalm of Ojai California Solar Electric Chamber on the Mountain Char Man Brand Hot Sauce Dogs Fly Design Gabriela CeseĂąa, Berkshire Hathaway

The Glass Man Professional Window Washing Company

Ojai Quarterly

GoOjai.com

Rowsie Vain

Greyfox Investors Jennifer Keeler, Hair Stylist Lorraine Lim Catering Mary Nelson Skincare & Massage Studio Mooney Creative Noah Crowe, Sunrun Home Solar Consultant

Parker Jellison Realtor Sol Haus Design The Southern Los Padres Trekking Company Tobias Parker, General Contractor Tonya Peralta Real Estate Services Watercolors by Patty Van Dyke

Together, our community will help protect Ojai’s trails and open spaces for everyone to enjoy, forever.

Visit a participating Wild About Ojai business 88 OQ / FALL 2018 today and take part.

Spas & Swim Spas

6019 Olivas Park Dr. Suite A, Ventura CA 93003 (805) 654-9000 spa-warehouse.com

Visit our 5,000 sq ft Showroom Open Monday - Friday 10am to 6pm. Saturday 9am to 5pm

Follow us on Instagram!

Stephen Adelman “Your Family Man Realtor”

Spanish Style Home Downtown Ojai

Ojai’s locally owned and operated magazines.

By nationally award-winning writers and photographers.

DISCOVER

OJAI

#OJAI STRONG, OJAI STRONGER

On the Firing Line with Travis Escalante

u ary 2 01

8

J

an

MONTHLY Lifestyle & Visitor Information

Ojai by Design:

book spotlights famous architects

CalBre : 01786486 call or text to (805)-640-5563 realestateojai@gmail.com www.ojailuxuryrealestate.com

Ojai’s toy story: The barthelemys have more in store

Cover Sponsored by Oak Grove School “Where the World is Our Classroom • See More On Page 19 Visitor Information • Hikes • Events • Activities • Lifestyle Tips & Tactics - December 2017 See More AtOMTheOjai.net

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Ojai Quarterly & Ojai Monthly @ theojai.net

• Completely rebuilt from the studs in 2011 • 2,700 sq ft 5 bedrooms and 3 baths including a large master suite • Gourmet kitchen-upgraded appliances-6 burner Viking range • Granite counters and Travertine tile • Easy access with 2 entrance points, each with iron gates • Roses and bougainvillea flowers • Full irrigation system to help nurture your green thumb creations • Captivating back yard with Outdoor BBQ • Warm sunset with views of the Topa Topas • This is the diamond on Shady Lane

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Built in 1914, The Ojai Playhouse is one of the oldest movie theaters in California. Includes renovation with state-of-the-art seating/equipment as well as the adjacent restaurant space.

145EO jaiAveO jai. com

Near the center of Downtown Ojai, this 1.18 acre lot with prime frontage on Ojai Avenue has tremendous mountain views and ample space for multiple buildings and parking.

510 EO jaiAveO jai. com

PATTY WALTCHER

I will help you discover the home that brings peace to your mind and heart

(805) 340-3774 pattywaltcher.com

Minutes from Ojai, 233 acres with unbelievable panoramic views over 3 counties, including the Pacific, the Islands, and the Topa Topas. With ample buildable land, a private well and utilities in place, it is ready for the home of your dreams.

13500E Sulp hur Mt nR d O jai. com

Stunning 5.25 acres with a unique expanse of usable land, mature trees, vast 360° views and a gated entry off of Foothill Road.

Beautiful 8.6 acre parcel with mountain and valley views and gated entry off of Foothill Road, ready to build.

1218Fo o th i l l R o a dO ja i .co m

1220Foot hillR oad O jai. com

PATTY WALTCHER

I will help you discover the home that brings peace to your mind and heart

(805) 340-3774 pattywaltcher.com

GREEN BUILDING FEATURE

KEEPIN’ IT COOL

A

s we experience sweltering heat waves more frequently on the Central Coast, many of us are getting knocked out of our “no A/C needed” comfort zones.

The downside is that air conditioning draws significant electrical power generated mostly from fossil fuels, thus exacerbating global warming. Even when powered by renewable energy, the production of any AC equipment can use a lot of resources. Since most of us have limited tolerance for hot weather, if you are a sustainably minded homeowner, it is important to consider natural cooling strategies along with air conditioning when seeking ways to cool your home.

Many natural cooling techniques boil down to one basic principle: keep air moving. Funneling afternoon breezes through homes when you can is ideal. You can optimize the channeling of these breezes by carefully selecting the location and types of windows and doors. A combination of small low inlets and larger outlets achieves the best and fastest indoor air movement. A ratio of 1:3 is ideal. Another way to keep air moving is to install Casablanca ceiling fans in the main rooms of a house. If a room has a central ceiling light, a combined fan-light fixture can easily replace it.

The effectiveness of ventilation can be further enhanced by pre-cooling the air before it enters the home. Trees can both shade windows and cool the afternoon air currents. Deciduous trees are best, because they shed their leaves in winter to allow the sun and its warmth in. Moisture evaporating from a pond, fountain or supplied by a mister also remove heat from air.

Trellises, building overhangs and awnings are simple yet effective strategies for keeping a building cool by limiting solar gain. Exterior shade screens prevent direct sunlight from striking a window. Awnings block light and heat whereas shade screens allow some light through.

Another consideration is your home’s color. Dark-colored exteriors absorb 70-90 percent of the sun’s radiant energy, some of which is transferred into the exterior walls resulting in heat gain. In contrast, light-colored exteriors reflect most of the heat away.

You might also want to consider adding insulation to your existing walls and attic. In most cases, this is less expensive than installing air conditioning equipment and helps to keep the house not only cool but also quiet (or warm when desired).

It is important to use a professional installer in order to achieve a complete, high-performance thermal barrier.

For more information, call, click or visit Allen Construction.

805.884.8777 | buildallen.com

10+ acres in the Padaro Lane enclave, minutes to downtown Montecito, the Santa Barbara airport, 80 miles to L.A. List Price: $49,000,000 www.padaro-lane.com

Rich in Texas history. An opportunity to own a part of the historic River Bluff Ranch where the Comanche Indians once roamed and where the native blue stem grass still grows. Offered is the approximately 280 acres of what the River Bluff Ranch called its West Pasture. Varied terrain of hills to flat lands with amazing views. Spend time on this land, it will sing to your soul.

In the Real Estate Industry Since 1986 805-798-0960 • cathytitusojai@gmail.com

OJAI DOOR & WINDOW 942 E. OJAI AVE OJAI, CA 93023 P (805) 646 5032 F (805) 646 1708

www.ojaidoorandwindow.com

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Custom Residential and Commercial

Specialty Coatings. Fine Finishes. Wood Graining.

Joan Roberts Broker Associate/Realtor BRE#00953244

30 years local experience •Residential • Land • Investment

Providing expert, diligent and responsive representation for the sale or acquisition of your property.

FA M

ILY

TE ER A OWNE D A N D OP

D

TITUS PAINTING OJAI (805) 646-1373 info@titus-painting.com

805- 223-1811

Roberts4homes@gmail.com

Ojai Custom Paint Inc. lic# 983959

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

JOE DAVIS

PROPERTY SHOPPE

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIVISION

805-574-9774 PROPERTY SHOPPE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIVISION

YOUR LOCAL REALTOR OJAI AND VENTURA COUNTY CALBRE LICENSE | 02038823

DIRECT: 805.746.8424 | EMAIL: LISALYNCH@KW.COM

RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • INDUSTRIAL

www.JoeTheRentalGuy.com JOE DAVIS "The Rental Guy" 727 W OJAI AVE, OJAI CA 93023 • BRE #01999568

OJAI

KELLERWILLIAMS

JOE DAVIS

FULL SERVICE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT "The Rental Guy"

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The once-calmed mind is vast.

- Alan Watts

Let us help you undo the clutter.

Ojai Self StOrage www.ojaiselfstorage.com

Authorized Dealer U-Haul 805-646-5334 404 Bryant Circle Ojai Self Storage 805-646-8742

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Come Home To THE VERY BEST LOW/NO V.O.C. PAINT AT A GREAT PRICE

HOLISTIC, REGENERATIVE GARDENS Organically improving soil water holding capacity and vitality through water catchment systems, applications of active compost, soil injections and foliar spraying compost teas & extracts and mulching

Available at Frontier Paint 227 Baldwin Rd, Ojai 646-0459 • Frontierpaintca.com Selling quality in Ojai for over 35 years

Native and Mediterranean garden specialists

805-640-1827 • www.greengoddessojai.com

Sustainable Style

for Personal Well-being and a Healthy Planet Mattresses, bedding, bath, baby products, yoga clothing, pj’s and robes are nontoxic, organic and made with sustainably grown and manufactured materials.

Creating One-of-a-Kind Landscapes since 1998 Creating One-of-a-Kind Landscapes since 1998

Landscape and Irrigation Design & Installation

Landscape, Irrigation, Lighting Design Installation Landscape and Irrigation &&Installation Water Features •Design Lighting Design LawnWater Removal – Drought Tolerant Renovations Features • Lighting Design Estate Maintenance • Dormant Pruning Irrigation System Evaluations & Repairs Estate Maintenance • Dormant Pruning

10 Years In A Row 10 Years In A Row 805.640.8474

805.640.8474 lisaphelpslandscape.com lisaphelpslandscape.com Lic#772324

147 W. El Roblar Dr., Ojai • Tues-Sat 10:30-5 or by appt.

805.640.3699

Lic#772324

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Dennis Guernsey 805-798-1998

Broker/Owner, State Licensed Appraiser, General Contractor

Coldwell Banker ProPerty ShoPPe Ojai homes, Ojai ranches, Ojai commercial real estate.

Experienced and knowledgeable Realtors serving the Ojai Valley for over 30 years.

This property has it All! Gated Spanish compound on 5-acres in Ojai. Surrounded by magnificent Oaks and includes Det. guest house with garage, pool and spa, pool house, cabana with bar and BBQ, tennis ct. and huge barn or work shop. Main house is approx. 4400 Sq.Ft. 2 master bedrooms, formal dining room, gourmet kitchen, raised beam ceilings, 4-fireplaces, living and family rooms, loft, 5-bedrooms, 7-baths, 3-car garage and centrally located to Ojai, Ventura and Santa Barbara. Great views, private location and room for horses---Solar owned by seller and included in sale $2,349,000 Hard to find 1-story 2-bedroom, 2-bath Taormina home in great location. One of Ojai’s first historic districts. Gas lantern street lights, rural mailboxes and cypress trees give the ambience of French Norman Village. Direct access to Ojai Preserve featuring gorgeous trails and protected wetlands.

Adjacent to Krotona Institute which offers lectures, workshops, library, native gardens, valley views and more. Lots of upgrades including limestone counters, expanded master bedroom and bath and single car garage. $599,000

Rare find in East side of Ojai---Flat 1-acre lot just minutes from town. Utilities at street---buyer to verify. Buyer advised to check with City or County about possible development. Perfect for mini estate, horses, planting etc.

Great mountain views $449,500

Ready to build One of the last buildable lots in Rancho Matilija---Buyer to verify.

Completely flat, interior location, mountain views, adjacent to walking and riding trails and includes 1 Casitas water and sewer hook up. $699,500

Don’t Miss This By far the best land buy in Ojai.

Incredible flat 20-acre parcel in heart of Upper Ojai. Located in rear of 11999 Ojai-Santa Paula Road and part of the renowned Hall Ranch.

Water available. Great mountain views - all usable - Perfect for planting, horses or private estate. Buyer to verify utilities. $849,500

Dennis Guernsey, Cell: 805-798-1998 • Office: 805 646-7288

Coldwell Banker Property Shoppe Ojai 727 W Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA 93023 • dennisguernsey.com • www.ojaicoldwell.com

Peter & his Plants Peter Strauss looks out across the acres of earth he’s planted and tends, out toward the wild Topa Topa range. “These plants … these plants give me purpose and happiness.”

Story By Robin Gerber Photos by Brandi Crockett

P

eter Strauss holds a palmsized clay pot in his hand, and smiles like he’s seeing it for the first time. Inside are a jumble of small, uneven stones of different shapes and colors. In the middle is something that looks like two smooth, half-moon shaped rocks, pressed together to form a circle about the size of a fifty-cent piece. They are blue-green and speckled with deeper colored dots and scattered brown veins.

“It looks like a stone, but it’s a plant,” Strauss sounds as amazed as I feel. “It’s in the group of mesembs, or genus Mesembryanthemum, primarily from Namibia.”

Strauss laughs, “And they are motherf’ers because they’re so hard to grow.”

New York. “I remember one day she was in the garden working with her favorite plant, mountain phlox, an alpine plant with little pink flowers for rock gardens.

I was about ten. Suddenly she leapt up and said, ‘Oh my God, your father’s going to kill me. You’re going to your first opera, and we can’t be late.’ We ran inside and

Rosenkavalier.” A dreadful opera for a young boy.”

Strauss’s mother may have planted a seed, but it didn’t sprout until he was near the end of college at Northwestern University in 1969. He took a first-time trip to California to meet talent agents.

doesn’t lose the thread of his story. “Crossing the street, at that exact moment,” he says, “is a co-ed in white tennis shorts and white tee-shirt, with perfect blond hair and golden sunlight streaming over her. The wall, the bougainvillea, the co-ed. That left an immediate visual image with me.”

A few weeks later, Strauss got a bike, and rode past the Santa Monica Convention Center. He saw a sign announcing the ‘Santa Monica Succulent Society Show.’

“I thought, what the heck is a succulent society?” he says, “I had absolutely no idea, but succulent was kind of a sexy word, so I went in.”

You may think of Peter Strauss as the extraordinary actor with a long, and still growing list of television, film and stage credits.

But the man who gave us unforgettable performances in “Rich Man, Poor Man,” and “Jericho Mile,” would be the first to tell you that second to his family, his greatest love is plants.

What Strauss found was a hall full of people forty years older than him, dressed in plaid shirts and khaki pants, obsessing over the strangest plants he had ever seen. He wandered around the tables.

He stared at a Melocactus topped by a cephalium, a red and white cottony mass with little flowers that produce fruit and seeds.

“I think plants are extraordinary,” Strauss explains, “because they have the innate ability to survive horrific conditions.

I am deeply moved when I’m on the freeway stuck in traffic, and you look at the asphalt, and there’s this little plant, this weed, that’s right there on the 101 or 405, and you know there’s 16 feet of concrete and road base underneath, and there’s this little seed that lodged there.”

His eyes get wide, “I look at that and I go ‘wow,’ just ‘wow.’

It’s the aggressive tenacity, and will and desire to survive that moves me.”

“I’d never seen anything like it. What is that?” Strauss acts out his amazement with a resonant tenor that can fill a room sans microphone. “And this woman comes up to me and says ‘Are you interested in joining the Succulent Society? We are going on a plant expedition next week.

Would you like to come with us?’” Strauss laughs. “It was one of those moments in life where you think, why would I do that?”

Strauss’ plant passion started early, in the garden with his mother in upstate 100

Above: Peter’s East End estate is a riot of color and botanical intrigue. Right: A collection of lithop plants from the genus Mesembryanthemum. Opening Page: Agave parryi var. huachucensis from Southeast Arizona to Chihuahua, Mexico she told me to change into clothes she’d laid out. When she dressed and came down the stairs, she was wearing these aristocratic white threequarter length gloves, and she was laughing. ‘Look,’ she said, and she pulled a glove off.

Her hands were completely covered with dirt, and her fingernails were full of soil.

That was the day I saw “Der

Strauss remembers getting off the freeway in Los Angeles, “At a stop sign in front of me was a classic white Spanish colonial wall with purple bougainvillea hanging over it. Well, Bougainvillea Brasiliensis.’’ I quickly learn that Strauss knows his taxonomy, reveling in genus and species, the more Latin sounding the better. But he

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A week later, Strauss found himself with five other Society members driving in a yellow Volvo station wagon down to Cataviña on the Baja Peninsula. John Bleck, the husband of the woman who invited Strauss, and a

world-renowned aloe breeder and succulent collector, remembers him as “very outgoing, and very amazed at plants in the wild.”

Strauss remembers that his travel mates were dressed in Eddie Bauer safari clothes.

He wore shorts, sandals and a tee-shirt. “In an hour I was burnt to a crisp and covered in spines.” But in Baja, surrounded by giant boulders, Boojum trees, and elephant cacti, the young actor found an irresistible attraction. “How could you not love it?” Strauss asks, “The Boojum trees, or Idria, looked straight out of Dr. Seuss.”

At night, in their rooms at the

102

El Presidente hotel chain, the Society team would take the plants they’d collected, cut off the living material and roots, and use toothbrushes to remove soil. Then they would pack them up, and send the plants to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in order to get permits to bring the plants over the border. “These people I was with,” Strauss says, “they knew so much, and I knew nothing. They made me hungry to learn.”

Above: An epiphytic disocactus from Oaxaca and Veracruz. Below: Clean white walls and terracotta pantiles form the perfect backdrop for Strauss’ garden.

Soon, Strauss was a working actor. At home in his Westwood apartment, he began filling tables with five-inch pots of succulents that could be bought at Sears’

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stores. By the time he moved to his first ranch, he needed friends to help him lug flats of succulents up the 101.

Strauss planted the Boojum tree caudex, the horticultural term for a bulb rootstock, that he brought back from that first trip to Baja. The tree can be seen today at his former ranch in Agoura Hills, now an eponymous public park.

Strauss has tried to make choices, to focus on one plant group over another. But he’s only succeeded in part. “To paraphrase Will Rogers, I say there are only three plants I’ve met that I don’t like.” He’s captivated by form, structure,

color, texture, explaining that shells and rocks hold a similar fascination for most plant collectors because they have the same architectural characteristics as plants.

In the 30 years since Strauss moved to his ranch on Ojai’s East End he has re-cultivated his land, spurred by his love of cacti and succulents.

In 2015, he replaced eight of his 30 acres of orange groves with Opuntia cacti, commonly called ‘prickly pear,’ in an effort to show that there might be a more sustainable plant for areas in extreme drought.

The Opuntia has myriad uses. There are 26 potential

Above: Gerrandanthus macrohiza ‘Bigfoot’ from South Africa. Below: The cochineal scale insect ravages a mature prickly pear.

products that can be made from it, including a brandy sold by Ventura Spirits at Ojai Beverage Company, called Opuntia Prickly Pear Spirits, as well as jam, and gluten-free

flour.

But before his rows of cacti can become a cash crop, Strauss has to win his battle against the cochineal, an insect that looks like a white spot on the Opuntia leaves.

Scratch that spot and the body of the insect bleeds a striking crimson color. A precious dye can be made from it, but it takes 70,000 insects to make a pound of dye.

While the Incas and Aztecs valued the cochineal dye more than gold, Strauss sees the insect as the murderous pest that is killing his Opuntia. He’s determined to beat his foe,

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my god,” he says, “that’s like asking me to pick my favorite child. I don’t have enough room for the plants I love. The earth does, but not me.”

Strauss started the lawnreplacement garden with cycad Encephalartos horrida, a plant that had been around when dinosaurs wandered the earth. “I love it because it’s a mixture of color and defensiveness. It sort of represents me,” he says with a playful smile, “thorny and spiny on the exterior, but internally a beautiful, loving profound flower.”

He’s amazed at how the cycads evolved from tropical to arid climates, and developed mechanisms to survive inhospitable conditions. Looking out at the 115-degree heat during our July interview, Strauss adds, “we’re testing these plants’ limits. My plants come from arid regions, and they work symbiotically in the wild. So a tree shelters a shrub that shelters a cycad that shelters a small succulent. And plants shelter us. That’s why we have to protect them.”

I ask about climate change.

Strauss is quick to respond.

“Farmers don’t need scientists to tell us about climate change. We know that trees are blooming earlier or later, fruit is bigger or smaller,

Left: Agave ovatifolia “Frosty Blue.”

Above: Echeveria species from Mexico.

Right: Aloe chaubadi ‘Orange Burst’ from northeast South Africa.

testing varieties of Opuntia for resistance, and testing methods of eradicating the lethal white spots. It’s an epic battle for Strauss, a modern Leningen versus the ants.

Three years ago, Strauss took out 90-percent of a long, sloping lawn in favor of many types of cycads, plants that date back to the Jurassic period 145 million years ago, as well as agaves and aloes. I ask Strauss to talk about the ones he likes the best. “Oh OQ / FALL 2018 2018

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pests are growing, predators are disappearing and things are out of whack. Farmers are outside all the time, having an extraordinary intimate relationship with plants and the soil. I don’t look at Facebook 60 times a day. I check temperature 60 times a day. Climate change is genuine, real and frightening.”

Most recently, a 450-square foot greenhouse rose 18-feet high in a grove of Strauss’s 2,500 hundred naval and valencia oranges. The walkway leading to the greenhouse door is planted with intention. Green and blue agaves are the palette Strauss used, with an occasional surprising orange hue. Plants are not just plants. They are art, color, architecture, culture.

Strauss built the greenhouse for plants he fantasized about his whole life, and dreamed about growing. He’s planning a trip to Namibia, even though he could order the plants he wants. “I don’t want to collect plants and not see them in the wild,” Strauss explains. “Most rare plants are not growing out in the open with a big sign. Ninety-five percent of them are hidden, behind rocks, under rocks, or in the case of mesembs they’re completely hidden, but right there in front of you.”

Inside the greenhouse it’s uncomfortably hot, but Strauss doesn’t seem to notice as he points. “Look at this aloe from Yemen, Aloe sabaea, my rarest greenhouse plant.”

Before I have a chance to take in the long fat leaves that loop back, or as Strauss would say are, “recurved,” he is holding a Crassula and explaining Crassulacean acid metabolism or “CAM” photosynthesis. “These breathe at night because of 106

the heat. They open their stomata, or pores, in the evening or night when it’s cooler. They do what other plants don’t do. It’s pretty amazing,” Strauss explains.

I learn that even Opuntia can turn their leaves as much as 15 degrees to get more or less sunlight, always working to protect their moisture.

Strauss points to a stapeliad, star-shaped and not nearly as unattractive as their behavior.

“These reek of dead meat,” Strauss says, “because the bees won’t pollinate them, so they have to attract flies.”

He sighs. “You know you can never learn enough about plants. My bedside reading table is plant books. My wife calls it plant porn.”

Strauss has created his own world. One day he can be found dancing to his Ipod as he looks at the splendor he has created, and the next he’s doing the hard work of maintaining it.

There are five acres to his Mediterranean garden, in addition to his fruit trees and 150 roses. Finding him covered in dirt and sweat is not unusual.

“Plants have great needs,” Strauss says, “you never finish with them. You’re digging a hole for the plant’s future.

What soil will the root structure go into in five years, what fertilizer does it need, what irrigation, insect and weed control? You’re shocked that you mistimed the calendar, and the purple that was supposed to go opposite the orange of another flower doesn’t bloom on time because of climate change.”

He sighs. “What’s that line?

If you want to see God laugh, plant a plant.”

Aloe pseudorubroviolacaea from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

OQ / FALL 2018

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Strauss has an intriguing role in a new film, “Operation Finale,” starring Ben Kingsley

and Oscar Isaac. The film debuts in September, about the time Strauss can begin watering some of the rare conophytums in his new greenhouse.

It’s not hard to guess which event he is anticipating more.

After all, this is the actor who skipped taking a major role in a 1970s TV movie because

a night-blooming cereus was about to display its glorious once-a-year bloom.

The greenhouse isn’t a vanity project. Strauss has bigger plans.

“I want to open the

greenhouse to kids, because every day I go in there and think how amazing this would be for children to learn about, to see.” He looks at the unique plants in the central garden of the greenhouse, some intended to soar one day toward the peaked roof.

“I think, ‘What am I supposed to do right now with my life?’

Everything I’ve acquired feels sort of meaningless.”

Strauss looks out across the acres of earth he’s planted and tends, out toward the wild Topa Topa range. “These plants ... these plants give me purpose and happiness.”

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1. Azu Restaurant & Ojai Valley Brewery 457 East Ojai Ave. 640-7987 2. Bart’s Books 302 W. Matilija Street - corner of Cañada Street.

646-3755 3. Besant Hill School 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road 646-4343

The Ranch House 15

4. Ojai Music Festival 201 South Signal 646-2094

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5. Boccali’s Restaurant 3277 Ojai-Santa Paula Road 646-6116 6. Emerald Iguana Inn Located at north end of Blanche Street 646-5276 7. Genesis of Ojai 305 East Matilija Street 746-2058

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8. OVA Arts 238 East Ojai Avenue 646-5682 18

9. Knead Baking Co. 469 East Ojai Ave. 310-770-3282

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10. Ojai Art Center 113 South Montgomery Street 646-0117

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11. Nutmeg’s Ojai House 304 North Montgomery St. 640-1656 12. Ojai Café Emporium 108 South Montgomery Street 646-2723

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13. Ojai Valley Electronics & Hobby 307-A East Matilija Street 646-7585 14. Ojai Valley Museum 130 West Ojai Avenue 640-1390 15. Ranch House 102 Besant Road 640-2360

16. Sea Fresh 533 East Ojai Ave. 646-7747

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17. Studio Sauvageau 332-B East Ojai Ave. (Inner Arcade) 646-0117

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18. Treasures of Ojai 110 North Signal St. 646-2852

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19. Porch Gallery 310 East Matilija St. 213-321-3919 20. Ojai Olive Oil 1811 Ladera Ridge Road (off Hermitage) 646-5964

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OJAI HEALTH & FITNESS

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Healers of Ojai

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Glide Ride: Sights for Soar Eyes

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Retreats of Ojai

136

Calendar of Events

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Ask Dr. Beth

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Developing Your Taste For Health

Mom! There’s No Food in The House

Hiking

Top 10 Paths to Find Yourself Photo by Bennett Barthelemy

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HEALING ARTS

DEVELOPING A TASTE FOR HEALTH

By Shivani Jane templetaste.com

Ojai is gathering a reputation for being a destination for foodies, offering innovative cuisine at artisanal neighborhood eateries known for farm to table freshness.

Masterfully crafted dining requires wholesome foods prepared with passion, skill, creativity and an essential understanding of tastes.

In the most amazing dishes, there is a taste base — a balance of sweet, salty, acidic and fat that gives a foundation for flavor. But have you ever wondered what taste has to do with your health?

The concept of eating whole organic foods for health continues to grow in popularity alongside the cutting-edge world of culinary alchemy. And who doesn’t love the way a delectable bite of creation imbued with extraordinary flavors can tantalize your senses. From the perspective of taste our region is a bountiful source of quality food choices, so every meal can become a tasty adventure into a joyful world of health by simply including an appropriate balance of flavors from nutritious whole foods, herbs and spices.

Scientifically, when we use the word “taste” we’re talking about specific qualities conveyed to us via taste receptors on the tongue and in the mouth. These tastes include the classics: sweet, salty, sour,

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bitter and the less familiar astringent and pungent. The basis of using these six tastes has been an aspect of ancient healing practices and an integral part of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine used for centuries to enhance vitality of body, mind and spirit. One of the greatest benefits of bringing awareness to harmonizing the six tastes is a sense of body-mind balance.

A meal that honors six tastes will leave you feeling a delightful sense of satisfaction while naturally diminishing food cravings or the desire to overeat.

It’s easy to come into this practice since all of the flavors are represented in the foods we eat. Sweet, Salty and Sour dominating most of our meals and Astringent, Bitter and Pungent showing up more sparingly. I’ll leave you to your tongue map to discern the six tastes in your foods, but don’t be surprised if you experience a blend

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OQ / FALL 2018

of flavors in every bite. Everything we eat has a primary and secondary taste for example; apple is sweet and astringent, onion is sweet and pungent, arugula is bitter and astringent, oranges are sweet and sour and limes are sour and bitter. Through your palate a unique fusion of flavors can avail a wide array of beneficial qualities for your health and happiness.

While seasonal conditions and other elements produce the balancing qualities for the supporting tastes, the abundance of Earth’s bounty is naturally sweet and nourishing. According to the Ayurvedic texts the cosmic memory of taste is also contained in the sweet cool aspects of water and within ancestral traditions “Food is Memory.” It is believed that when we taste wholesome foods we remember “All Time.” So, we are not just talking about “taste” itself, but a whole synthesis of sensory information, including flavors, aroma, texture, ambience and the collective experience of eating.

Good food is memory that feeds both our inner and outer nature and brings us back for more. And one thing is for sure, when you bring awareness to include the six tastes in your meals along with gratitude and a good friend to share the experience, you are likely to feel a lot more gratified and nourished in your life.

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TO ADVERTISE HERE please call or email Laura Rearwin Ward at: laura@ojaiquarterly.com or 805-479-5400

NAN TOLBERT NURTURING CENTER

Pre-birth to 3; pre/post-natal well-being; infant/toddler development; parent education/ support. birthresource.org info@birthresource.org Phone 805-646-7559

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Offers Swedish, deep tissue, reflexology, reiki, cranialsacral and pre and post natal massage with a reverent and joyous balance of hands and heart. laurelfelice54@gmail.com 805-886-3674

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Certified Colon Hydrotherapist Ojai Digestive Health With more than 30 years of experience in healing modalities, Jacalyn brings a deep level of caring to the art of colon hydrotherapy. Professional, nurturing, experienced.

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Welcome to Somatic Sanctuary — a somatic-based healing and movement arts center. Explore healing treatments, group movement sessions, workshops and community events. 410 West Ojai Ave. 805-633-9230

NATHAN KAEHLER, MA, LAC

Nathan Kaehler (Best of Ojai 2014). Licensed Acupuncturist, MA Psychology. Gentle acupuncture, 14 years experience Personalized herb preparations Large onsite herb dispensary 805-640-8700

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Brain injury, stroke, cerebral palsy, autism, ADD/ADHD, developmental delays. Offices in Ojai and Los Angeles. Visit formingmovement. com. 520-369-5460, bjungschmitt@ gmail.com

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Cert. Hypnotherapist Find your calm center. Release negative thinking, emotional reactivity, anxiety, fear and unhelpful behaviors. Improve sleep and comfort. Safe, loving, rapid change. It’s time to feel better! 805-796-1616 leslie.bouche@roadrunner.com lesliebouche.com

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2nd generation Acupuncturist who brings 13 years of Meditation, Tai Chi and Kyudo Zen Archery experience to his healing practice of Functional Medicine and TCM. AmaraOjai.com 805-486-3494

Gong Meditation and Acutonics Sound Alchemist. Master Bodyworker. Founder of Harmonic Earth — sacred space for healing arts and performance. Call or text.

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JULIE TUMAMAITSTENSLIE

Chumash Elder Consultant • Storyteller • Spiritual Advisor • Workshops Weddings and Ceremonies 805-646-6214 jtumamait@sbcglobal.net

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Krotona

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OQ / FALL 2018

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A PLACE FOR RETREAT OJAI LOVE CENTER OjaiLoveCenter@gmail.com • (323) 854-5182 ojailovecenter.com Welcome to the Ojai Love Center! Located 10 walking minutes to quaint, historic downtown, on one of the most private, prestigious lanes in Ojai, nestled within majestic ancient oak trees on two acres. We have a unique floor plan that’s perfect for retreats and family gatherings with stunning views of the Topa Topas to enjoy the famous Pink Moment.

PEPPER TREE RETREAT

1130 McAndrew Road, Ojai • (877) 355-5986 www.peppertreeretreat.org If you are seeking a retreat in Ojai, you’d be following famous footsteps. The Pepper Tree Retreat has played host to some of the most influential people in the world, from D.H. Lawrence to John Lennon.

As Krishnamurti himself said, who lived on the property from 1922 to 1986, “It is essential to go into retreat, to stop everything you have been doing, to stop your experiences completely and look at them anew ... you would then let fresh air into your mind.

This place must be of great beauty with trees, birds, and quietness, for beauty is truth and truth is goodness and love.”

The Pepper Tree Retreat includes an impeccably restored 1910 farmhouse, and features eight guest rooms and newer cottages. All rooms have private bath, writing desk, wi-fi and air conditioning.

The retreat also features both indoor and outdoor meeting areas.

The retreat is run by the Krishnamurti Foundation of America.

The two original buildings on the site, Pine Cottage and its accompanying guest house, have been designated historic structures by Ventura County.

Set amid the flourishing and fragrant orange groves of Ojai’s East End, and tucked into a grove of ancient oaks, the retreat offers serenity and solitide amid stunning natural beauty.

Three rooms have their own kitchen, and a vegetarian breakfast buffet is offered every morning. Access is offered to the nearby Krishnamurti Library, where people from all over the world have drawn inspiration and insights.

The Pepper Tree Retreat prides itself on being an island of calm in a turbulent world, where couples, small groups and individuals can relax, soak in beauty and establish a new relationship with life.

OJAI RETREAT 160 Besant Road, Ojai • (805) 646-2536 • ojairetreat.com The Ojai Retreat is located on a 5-acre hilltop property with spectacular views. It offers 12 beautiful guestrooms, European-style breakfast included. It also features a spacious living room, reading room, waterfall garden, nature path, and outdoor spaces to enjoy the view. Ideal for individuals and couples.

MEDITATION MOUNT 10340 Reeves Road, Ojai • (805) 646-5508 meditationmount.org Devastated by the Thomas Fire, with 28 of its 32 acres burned, Meditation Mount is closed for repairs until further notice. “We have been greatly heartened by the many voices now asking, ‘How can I help?’ We invite you to increase your contribution or make donations to rebuild, regrow and revitalize this sacred place of beauty, harmony and inspiration,” their website states.

Donations can be made at meditationmount.org/

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ASK DR. BETH From a few simple, fresh ingredients, delicious meals can be made

‘MOM!THERE’S NO FOOD IN THE HOUSE!’ Mom, there’s no food in the house!” How often I hear this at my house — often the same day I’ve been grocery shopping. My children’s exasperation is exceeded only by my own. I wonder what my teenagers expect to see when they open the fridge.

Obviously, we are not seeing food in the same way.

Plant-based eating requires a touch of imagination. A whole-food plant-based kitchen is stocked with staples, spices and ingredients. Canned or dried beans, lentils and whole-grains with names like barley, farro, or quinoa, take up space in the cupboard. Fresh produce expires, and must be purchased frequently in smaller amounts. But when food is fresh and tastes good, a little goes a long way.

On a recent weekend, for example at the Farmer’s Market in Ojai, two beefy ripe heirloom tomatoes, along with an avocado, became the basis of lunch for three: tomato and avocado sandwiches on crusty bread from Westridge Market, with vegan mayo, salt and pepper. Even my finicky teen appreciated the simple deliciousness of these ingredients, his approval evidenced by the empty plate and request for seconds.

But what are the chances my child’s brain could have configured a meal from a whole tomato, avocado and loaf of bread?

Slim. In his mind, food has names like Subway, Rusty’s Pizza, and The Habit.

The standard American diet has become similarly distorted, to our peril. It’s no shock to hear that we are fatter and sicker than ever before, and spending more on health care. Pound for pound, we are eating more than ever (about a ton of food per year) We are also eating more dairy and animal products than ever before in our history, and more per capita than any other nation on the planet.

The numbers are staggering: 211 pounds of total meat (chicken, pork, beef) per person per year according to the USDA. In 1935 we consumed 1/6 the amount of chicken we do today. Perhaps chicken pricing has something to do with this. In 1935 chicken cost about 5 dollars a pound (adjusted for inflation), today it costs about $1.30 a pound. Chicken is now the number one source of sodium in the American diet (something we eat too much of).

Dairy comes in at 630 pounds per person annually. That number includes cheese which has tripled since 1970 — at 34 pounds per year.

Cheese also happens to be the No. 1 source of saturated fat in the American diet. The American Heart Association advises Americans to limit saturated fat to 5-6 percent of total daily calories, or about 160 calories per day for the average adult. Consumed from cheese alone, this amounts to two ounces. About the size of four dice. This is not much considering the abundance of saturated fat in every other animal product we might want to enjoy that day.

It’s a challenging time to be a food consumer in the United States. The system has evolved into a complicated structure of perverse incentives, conflicts of interest and politics that is beyond the scope of this page.

Suffice it to say, the very agencies that are advising us on how to eat healthier are also systematically financing and promoting the very foods they are telling us to eat less of, while we pay for it. It has become so twisted that “regardless whether you even eat meat, you incur a share of $7 in external costs each time someone buys a burger.” — David Robinson Simon, Meatonomics.

Despite the grim facts, we as individuals OQ / FALL 2018

DR. BETH PRINZ Contact: doctorbeth@ojaiquarterly.com The Food Doctor M.D. – Dr. Beth Prinz is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and passionate about preventing disease through healthy living and a whole-food plant-based dietary approach to health. have incredible power. Every day — breakfast, lunch and dinner, we get a vote.

We can decide what we and our children consume, and by choosing more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fewer meat, dairy, refined grains, oils, and sugar, we are voting for our health.

It’s not cliché to say that supporting local farmers is good for us and good for the community. Next time you are in Ojai on a Sunday, drop by the Farmer’s Market and meet your farmers face-to-face. If you are looking to stretch your produce dollar a little further, stop by the Ambrosia Bag stand and pick up one of their flax-andlinen produce bags. I recently discovered these treasures, which are a great way to store your fresh foods so they last longer.

And we can teach our children.

Whenever possible, I pull my youngest son away from his digital world to participate in the process of cooking, so he can see for himself how this onion, pepper, clove of garlic, and can of beans becomes his lunch.

Otherwise, he will continue to regard a fridge or cupboard with mere ingredients as “empty.”

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Haney Landscape Custom Designs & Inspiring Installations

Randy Haney

805-640-8607 HaneyLandscape.com CA State License #551409

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Water-Wise Landscapes Pavers & Concrete Outdoor Rooms & Kitchens Fireplaces Lighting & Irrigation Pools & Spas

“The best auto shop I’ve ever worked with in my 30

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Ojai Valley impOrts 996 E Ojai Ave Ojai 805-646-6106 • Fax 805-646-6434 ovimports@sbcglobal.net

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Sights for Soar Eyes

hanging out with the masters of the sky

“You’ll be ready, right?” Will Dydo would soon be my guide into the ethers ... Like aeronautical Siamese twins we were now attached beneath an unfolded wing, harnessed in and ready to launch.

W

ill and I were looking down a 60-degree ridge from Camino Cielo at an altitude of some 3,000 feet that dropped to the Pacific Ocean. Wind would periodically move the tiny red flagging attached to the thin stakes that were spaced at calculated intervals down the dirt hillside to indicate the rising warm air that would deliver us into the sky.

When this specific wind moved the flag at the last stake again that would be our signal to run.

“I will count our running steps down the launch site and we probably won’t make it to three.” A bit like anesthesia I mused,

when you count backwards from 10 and never get to zero.

Will had spent hundreds of hours separated from terra firma and I think he had developed a new sensory reality — like the birds that find and climb thermals — fingered wingtips feeling the bumps of rising warm air to create loft. I had heard that Sherpa adapt to the hypoxic heights of the Himalaya by growing more capillaries to better

distribute the scarce molecules of oxygen.

So ergo, there must be a biological equivalent in the individuals that continually engage the skies.

I had a lot of questions as we readied for our tandem flight and Willy had provided a lot of answers and explanations — many more technical than I could fathom in the whirlwind moments before committing to flight.

Yet, I found myself surprisingly relaxed. I realized that the answers mattered little.

There was a feeling, a curious trust in Will’s quietly passionate expertise and willingness to share and engage this invisible force. He had a pervasive smile that belied a confidence — not only in the technical reality of wing shapes and his onboard GPS that indicated thermal activity that he clearly understood insideout — but he also had a lived confidence

Left: Will Dydo guides Bennett Barthelemy off the edge of Camino Cielo at 3,000 feet above sea level.

Words & Photos By Bennett Barthelemy

in the landscape and the invisible reality of what created the magic of safe, extended flight.

Nine-hundred and ninety-eight years years ago a man leapt from a bell tower in England with a set of cloth wings he

designed himself. He soared 600 feet before crash landing and breaking both legs. Having used birds for inspiration, it is said he lamented his design flaw and realized he overlooked a tail, which would have stabilized him and likely would have provided him with a safe landing.

Pine Mountain to Santa Barbara but had backed off flying now that he had a young child. Still, he engaged it by driving shuttle, bringing his daughter along, so he could vicariously soar. He told me that if you are good the birds follow you to find the thermals. Migrating birds

Above: Launching from Camino Cielo, trying to spot hawks to locate thermal updrafts. Below: Eilmer’s 1020 A.D.flight, illustrated by Zach DiStefano.

But like Eilmer of Malmesbury, who flew a millennium ago, we are still watching birds closely to mimic their efficacy in flying. And I think, some of the more engaged human fliers, like Will, are sensing as the birds do.

The landing is the other challenging aspect of human flight that could still use some help from the birds. I have seen birds approach a branch low, and then lift wings high for a quick aerodynamic drag slow-down and a short burst of lift to seemingly effortlessly perch. Will would engage this, too.

Recreational hang gliding is a relatively new endeavor. I remember in the early ‘80s, when the sport was technically 10 years old at best, (beyond a couple notable exceptions like a NASA engineer from the early ‘50s, enthusiasts were making their own gliders from bamboo) on a random bicycle adventure to the East End, watching hang gliders that launched from the Topa Topas above Ojai land in a field above Grand Avenue not far from Sarzotti Park.

Someone from the group, still in the sky on ground support, had binoculars and I eagerly looked through them and saw a hawk soaring in a thermal next to the glider. The guy told me that they watch for the birds to know where to go for thermals. I am sure that back then they lacked the more sophisticated handheld computers available now and relied more on the natural world for cues.

use thermals to rise to crazy altitudes to fly more effortlessly long distances.

Will was pretty modest about his flying accomplishments but I eventually learned that he had flown from Pine Mountain above Ojai to Olancha in the Owens Valley, some 135 miles.

Our shuttle driver to Camino Cielo was a veteran pilot who had flown from

Birds are still masters of the air. One reason is that they can quickly change the

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shape of their wing to adjust to changing air currents. Birds can control their flight without wasting energy with feathered wing tips or clustering feathers and changing the shape of the wing. Gliders these days still lack the ability to adapt as a bird wing does.

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After feeling the bump of a powerful thermal that we corkscrewed into. Some thermals may have you climbing 1,000 feet in 10 seconds and hopefully not into a cloud, where there is no way to tell directions — let alone up and down or if you are about to crash into the earth.

We had the height we needed to reach our landing zone in Scofield Park. Will described to me briefly that he likes to run less, and approach a steeper upslope and quickly stop, less room for error and not unlike the birds’ landings I had seen.

The landing would be a bit abrupt and I knew Will’s stocky legs were designed for it. I trusted when he said, “You’ll be ready, right?”

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Title VI Civil Rights The Ojai Trolley Service is committed to ensuring that no person is excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of its services on the basis of race, color or national origin as protected by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

For additional information, please call (805)272-3883.

Aviso de Derechos Civiles de Título VI Ojai Trolley esta comprometido a asegurarse de que no se excluye la participación, o negar a ninguna persona las ventajas de sus servicios a base de raza, color o su origen nacional según Título VI del acto de las derechos civiles de 1964 en su forma emendada. Para más información, llame al 805-272-3883.

FOR WORK, SCHOOL, ERRANDS

OR JUST FOR FUN!

General Fare/Tarifa Regular

Single Fare/Una Tarifa … … $1.50 Day Pass/Pase de Dia … … . $4.00

Reduced Fare*/Tarifa Reducida

Single Fare/Una Tarifa … … $0.75 Day Pass/Pase de Dia …… . . $2.00

Mayores de 65 años, Discapacitados, Medicare

contact / Para mas informacion, escriba por favor a:

*Seniors (65+), Disabled, Medicare /

For additional information or to file a complaint, please Ojai Trolley Service - 408 S. Signal St, Ojai, CA. 93023 or (805)272-3883

Free/Gratis

Seniors (75+) /Mayores de 75 años Kids under 45” tall /Niños menores de 45” de altura Transfers/Pases de transbordo

Tokens/Fichas

25 tokens for $30

Days of Operation/ Días de Operación

Ojai Trolley operates daily, except on the following major holidays: New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.

(805)272-3883 trolley@ojaitrolley.com WWW.OJAITROLLEY.COM

El servicio de Ojai Trolley opera diariamente, excluyendo los siguientes días feriados: Día de Año Nuevo, Día de Conmemoración de los Caídos, Día de Independencia, Día del Trabajador, Día de Acción de Gracias, y Navidad.

Ojai Valley’s

Community Connection

FOR INFORMATION

(805)272-3883 • trolley@ojaitrolley.com The Ojai Trolley is a Service of the City of Ojai & the County of Ventura www.Ojaitrolley.com Effective 1/1/18

408 South Signal Street, Ojai, CA 93024 • Phone: (805) 272-3383 • E-mail: trolley@ojaitrolley.com • www.ojaitrolley.com

Ojai Trolley Route Legend

Timed Trolley Stops/ Paradas Mayores

trolley Stops/ Paradas

Transfer to and from Gold Coast Transit at this location

Transfer Locations/ Punto de transbordar

Ojai Valley Inn

Trolley B Services

Whispering Oaks & East End

W

Trolley A Services

Photo: Michael

McFadden

The Ojai Trolley Service, established in 1989, is owned and operated by the City of Ojai. The Trolley provides daily fixed-route transportation to approximately 9,000 riders per month throughout Ojai, Meiners Oaks, and Mira Monte.

The Trolley is a well-known feature in the Ojai Valley, and in addition to the daily fixed-route services, participates in many local community events, fund raising activities, community service, and educational functions.

The Ojai Trolley Service ADA and Medicare Card Holders .75¢, Seniors 65 and up .75¢, Children under 45” tall FREE

From and to: For Just $1.50!

We’llOjai,get you there!

Meiners Oaks and Mira Monte

Patina Farm, one of the four homes on the tour, reflects the exquisite beauty of a charming farm and estate. Photo: Andrew Ingalls

NOVEMBER 10 & 11, 2018 Tour four distinctive homes in the beautiful setting of the Ojai Valley, each adorned with festive holiday inspirations Tour tickets: $40 advance/$45 day of the event

Shop at the Holiday Marketplace featuring a collection of curated lifestyle and fashion items with more than 40 vendors

Hosted by the Ojai Festival Women’s Committee with proceeds benefitting the Ojai Music Festival and its BRAVO education and community programs.

For tickets and details, call 805 646 2053 or visit OjaiFestival.org

The Holiday Marketplace is open to the public, free admission

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19th Annual

Ojai November Film1 - 11,Festival 2018 90+ Films Representing 33+ Countries Gold Coast Screenings Focus Earth Films Celebrity Honorees

Film Festival

www.OjaiFilmFestival.com

Full screening schedule and tickets online at

www.OjaiFilmFestival.com

Explore Ojai Valley’s History, Art and Culture 130 West Ojai Avenue (805) 640-1390 www.OjaiValleyMuseum.org

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS SEPTEMBER “How to Play the Gong” Date: September 1 Time: 8:30 a.m.

Location: Soul Body Ojai 206 North Signal Street, Suite M Contact: 805-717-9900 “Queen Tribute by Queen Nation & Journey Tribute by DSB” Date: September 1 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Libbey Bowl 210 South Signal Street Contact: libbeybowl.org 805-272-3881 “The Salty Suites + Rose Valley Thorns at Underground Exchange” Date: September 1 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Ojai Underground Exchange, 1016 West Ojai Avenue Contact: 805-340-7893 “Monday Night Improv Comedy Class at O.Y.E.S.” Date: September 3 136

OCTOBER 20: The City of Ojai celebrates itself every year, with the mandala on the corner of Signal Street and Ojai Avenue as its centerpiece.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Ojai Youth Entertainers Studio (OYES), 907 El Centro Street Contact: 818-648-9540 “Ojai Ecstatic Dance” Date: September 5 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Hamsa Studio, 109 East El Roblar Drive Contact: 805-212-9678 “Pet Vaccination Clinic with Dr. Lewis” Date: September 5 Time: 1 p.m.

Location: Pets and More, 1109 Maricopa Highway.

Contact: 805-272-8584 “Live at Home with Byron Katie” Date: September 6 Time: 10 a.m.

Location: The Center for The Work 309 East Aliso Street Contact: 805-444-5799

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Free Seminar - “Foundations of Our Republic” Date: September 6 Time: 12 p.m.

Location: Ojai Library.

111 East Ojai Avenue Contact: theagorafoundation.org 805-231-5974 “Learn English : Aprende Inglés” Date: September 6 Time: 5:30 p.m.

Location: Greater Goods, 145 West El Roblar Contact: Maegenmarie@gmail.com 805-856-8687, info@greatergoodsojai.org “Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra” Date: September 8 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Libbey Bowl 210 South Signal Street Contact: libbeybowl.org 805-272-3881 manager@libbeybowl.org

“Don Quixote and Man of La Mancha Seminar and Play Performance” Date: September 9 Time: 10 a.m.

Location: Azu Restaurant, 457 Ojai Avenue and Ojai Art Center Contact: To register: greatbooksojai.org, 805-6407987 elizabeth.h@azuojai.com

Certified Farmers Market

“Can Science Capture Aliveness?”

Date: September 10-14 Location: Krishnamurti Foundation of America 1098 McAndrew Road Contact: kfa.org/science-2018, 805-646-2726 info@kfa.org SEPTEMBER 6: Byron Katie will host “Live at Home” at The Center for the Work.

“HAVEN Tour” Date: September 13 Time: 8 p.m.

Location: Ojai Underground Exchange 1016 West. Ojai Avenue 805-340-7893 undergroundexchange@ojaiartsexchange.com

Full Moon Meditations

OCTOBER 11-12: Ojai Studio Artists Tour features the work of Christine Brennan, among dozens of other leading local artists.

“Bowlful of Blues” Date: September 22 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Libbey Bowl, 307 East Ojai Avenue 805-836-4665 Contact: info@bowlfulofblues.org

Dates: To be announced. Check website. Location: Meditation Mount, 10340 Reeves Road Contact: 646-5508 ext.103, meditationmount.org Open meditation at the Full Moon.

‘Eating Ojai’ Food Tour “Eating Ojai” Food Tour Date: Call to schedule Time: 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Location: Varies Contact: 295-8687 venturafoodtours.com

Pink Floyd Tribute by Which One’s Pink Date: September 15 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Libbey Bowl 210 South Signal Street (805) 272-3881 manager@libbeybowl.org libbeybowl.org/

Historical Walking Tours of Ojai Date: Every Saturday, October through May Time: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Location: Departs from the Ojai Valley Museum, 130 West Ojai Avenue.

Contact: 640-1390 ojaivalleymuseum.org

“Tannahill Weavers 50th Anniversary Tour” Date: September 14 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Ojai Valley Women’s Club,441 East Ojai Avenue Contact: 805-646-8126 “The Temptations” Date: September 14 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Libbey Bowl, 210 South Signal Street Contact: 805-272-3881 manager@libbeybowl.org libbeybowl.org

Date: Every Sunday Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Contact: 698-5555 Location: Matilija Street city parking lot behind the Arcade.

Open air market featuring locally grown produce, as well as plants, musicians and handmade items.

Ojai Seeker’s Bike Tour

SEPTEMBER 23: Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason will play Libbey Bowl.

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Date: By reservation, 48 hrs in advance Time: varies Location: varies Contact: 272-8102 or email ride@ themobshop.com Ojai bike tour features agricultural, artistic, culinary, cultural, and historical landmarks in Ojai. Riders are guided to eight stops where they answer questions about each place.

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“Great Books Seminar — On the Feminine” Date: September 22 Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m Location: Thomas Aquinas, 10000 Ojai-Santa Paula Road Contact: greatbooksojai.org

“George Christie’s Exile on Front Street” Dates: October 10-11 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Ojai Art Center Contact: Find the map online at: OjaiStudioArtists.org.

“Ji, Pianist” Date: September 23 Time: 3 p.m.

Location: Beatrice Wood Center, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road Contact: 805-646-9951, chamberonthemountain@gmail.com

“Ojai’s 2nd Annual Homes for Dogs” Date: October 13 Time: 1 p.m.

Location: Coldwell Banker Property Shoppe 727 West Ojai Avenue,

“Dave Mason & Steve Cropper: Rock & Soul Revue” Date: September 23 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Libbey Bowl 210 South Signal Street Contact: 805-272-3881 manager@libbeybowl.org

OCTOBER “Yoga for Seniors Teacher Training with Tucker Adams & Karen Kelly” Dates: October 5-7 Location: Ojai Yoga Shala Address: 306 East Matilija Avenue Contact: ojaiyogashala@gmail.com, 805552-6524 “Ojai Two-Day Art Retreat” Date: October 6 Time: 10 a.m.

Location: Pepper Tree Retreat 1130 McAndrew Road Contact: 805- 646-4773 retreat@kfa.org 2018 Upper Ojai SAR Fundraiser at Boccali’s Date: October 7 Time: Sunday, 4 p.m.

Location: Boccali’s, 3277 East Ojai Avenue 805-646-6116

“Ojai Studio Artists Tour 2018” Dates: October 13-14 Time: 10 a.m.

Location: Various locations Contact: Find the map online at: OjaiStudioArtists.org.

“Oingo Boingo Dance Party” Date: October 13 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Libbey Bowl 210 South Signal Street Contact: 805- 272-3881 libbeybowl.org “Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus” Date: October 13 Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Location: Thomas Aquinas College 10000 Ojai Road, Santa Paula, Contact: greatbooksojai.org “Ojai Day 2018” Date: October 20 Time: All Day Location: Downtown Ojai Contact: 805- 646-5581 ext. 304 coordinator@ojaiday.com ojaiday.com OCTOBER 10-11: Former Hell’s Angels leader George Christie brings his one-man show, “Exile on Front Street,” to Ojai.

“Natalie Gelman at Euterpe Farms” Time: October 9 Time: 6 p.m.

Location: Euterpe Farms 587 South Rice Road Contact: 805-798-2409 euterpe@smittywest.com

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OCTOBER 21: The Rotary Club of Ojai’s “Taste of Ojai,” a premier culinary event that raises money for scholarships.

“Taste of Ojai” Date: October 21 Time: 2 to 5 p.m.

Location: 10th Fairway at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa Contact: ojairotary.org, tasteofojai.com “Yoga Retreat & Teacher Training” Dates: October 22-28 Location: Pepper Tree Retreat 1130 McAndrew Road Contact: 805-646-4773 retreat@kfa.org “Wrestling with Faith” Date: October 24 Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Chabad, 311 Park Road Contact: 805- 613-7181 rabbimordy@chabad.com “Ojai Storytelling Festival” Date: October 25 to 28 Times: Varied Locations: Varied Contact: ojaistoryfest.org “Find Your Voice — A Women’s Retreat” Dates: October 26-28 Location: Kim Maxwell Studio 226 West Ojai Avenue #102 Contact: 805-482-1625 “Santa Barbara Printmakers & Frank Massarella” Date: October 31-November 29 Time: 12 to 4 p.m.

Location: Ojai Art Center 113 South Montgomery Street Contact: 805 646-0117 ojaiartcenter@aol.com

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Sat, Sept 22 Libbey Bowl • Ojai

Selwyn Birchwood Band Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps James Harman with Carl Sonny Leyland

Hot Roux The Kwan Telifaro Project bowlfulofblues.org NOVEMBER

Water: Part III

“4th Ram Dass Legacy Immersion Retreat” Dates: November 1 to 4 Location: Hanuman Gardens, 1190 El Toro Road Contact: Send your inquiry to hello@headplusheart.com info@hanumangardens.com “Great Books Seminar — Confucius” Date: November 3 Time: 10 a.m.

Location: 417 Bryant Circle Contact: greatbooksojai.org

Sunday, September 30th 3:00-5:00PM • Matilija Auditorium a free event on the future of water in the Ojai Valley 703 El Paseo Road in Ojai • The panel will also be live streamed

Ojai

“Yellow Flowers in Concert” Date: November 3 Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Greater Goods, 145 West El Roblar Contact: 805-856-8687 “Ojai Herbal Symposium” Dates: November 16-18 Times: Varied Location: Krotona Hall @ Krotona Institute of Theosophy, 2 Krotona Street Contact: 805-646-6281.

CHAUTAUQUA reservations strongly recommended: www.ojaichat.org • ojaichat@gmail.com • (805) 231-5974

This free event is made possible with support from the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce and The Ojai Valley Inn OQ / FALL 2018

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Where can you go to see world class theater, side-splitting comedy, hear award-winning blues and heartfelt poetry all in one place?...-The Ojai Storytelling Festival, it's not just a festival...it's an Experience!

October 25-28

at Libbey Bowl and the Ojai Art Center Glenis Redmond and Scott Ainsley, Diane Ferlatte, Clare Murphy, The Chameleons, Kevin Kling, Willy Claflin

es formunity manc Per fonrd the Com ls a Schoo

Tickets are Now On Sale on our website:

www.ojaistoryfest.org

Experience. Integrity. Leadership.

VOTE NOV. 6th!

JOHNSTON — FOR MAYOR — one of us, for all of us

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FREE

COMMUNITY

Saturday October 20 10 - 5 pm

2018

EVENT

LOCATED IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN OJAI Live Music | Great Food | Beer & Wine Garden | Arts & Crafts Vendors | Celebrate Ojai!

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NOCTURNAL SUBMISSIONS

By Sami Zahringer

A PARTY, SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY

From one wild Ojai night, the future is formed Jemima, Carlos, and Oliver, three up-and-coming young advertising executives, are attending a party thrown by their boss at his well-appointed penthouse apartment with original crown-moulding features and notable views of the park.

It is the sort of party where a lot of fabulously-toothed people are standing around in small groups discussing, at the most, three to four topics with sardonic arches of their perfectly groomed eyebrows. Everybody talks too loudly. Some people are actually braying. There’s no other word for it.

Carlos is there because he is a go-getter who will do whatever it takes to get ahead in the advertising world, up to, and including having sexual intercourse with his seniors in the company. Perhaps even a little beyond, if he thinks they’re into that. He will consider somebody junior to him too, if Stella, the leggy secretary is up for it. Carlos knows he looks terrific in these jeans.

Oliver is there because he definitely wants to have sexual intercourse with somebody tonight. Anybody.

He really doesn’t care who because what does anything matter anyway any more since Isabelle walked out with Mr. Smiths the cat, and the duck-egg-blue Le Creuset pan set that HE bought. God, that bitch, he fumes over his drink. Oliver is unsure how he looks in his jeans. He accidentally arm-leans on a cactus and says “Phnargle!.” He grabs a fourth glass of the circulating champagne and eyes the new wunderkind, Jemima. Not Isabelle-level, but not bad, Oliver thinks, I’ll talk to her.

Jemima, who has just recently arrived in the city, is there to network, and escape the crushing loneliness of the seedy apartment for which she is paying way too much and which is a sometimes stupefying, sometimes terrifying two-change train ride outside of the the city. She is not there to have sexual intercourse with anybody although it is not out of the question.

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God, who is this red-nosed guy in the too-tight jeans approaching her, wonders Jemima.

The host, Howard, is wearing a black turtleneck despite it being July, but he does not sweat. Nobody has ever seen him sweat, not even his mother who has been slightly afraid of him since he was a baby. Nor does Howard blink. Well, clearly he does blink but not when anybody is looking at him, even when they spin around really quickly and try to catch him. His mother has tried to do that, too.

The host’s wife, Honey, is lovely to everyone at the party. She is flushed and eager with a bright, openmouthed smile and a pleasant, hen-like manner. (“Hen-like” is the word that goes through everybody there’s mind. It is not a description that I, the narrator, just pulled out of my ass.) She is sweating slightly through her beige linen sheath dress but the hormone pills are working at long last and, frankly, at this point, she is just thankful not to be abob in her shoes.

Honey is careful to make sure everyone’s wine has been topped up and that the caterers are distributing the canapés at an acceptable number of room circulations per quarter hour. Howard has been very specific about this and also that she not drink more than one glass of wine and that she do something about her hair for God’s sake, and also that she doesn’t attempt conversation with anyone. People nod and exchange pleasantries with her because she is nice and because, sometimes, they are not unkind people. As they turn away they think “That poor cow.”

Honey feels their pity in every hug and every compliment on how well she looks, how much more rested now. They do not add “after your recent, very public, tragi-comic breakdown in Macy’s homeware department involving the lighter-fluid, the match, and the sales associate’s hair.” They do not have to.

But Honey is feeling much better now. Really, very much better. Plus, the cocaine she has just snorted

The host, Howard, is wearing a black turtleneck despite it being July, but he does not sweat. Nobody has ever seen him sweat, not even his mother who has been slightly afraid of him since he was a baby.

off the vanity is making her feel deliciously floaty and like nothing matters. Honey has another glass of champagne. To hell with Howard, thinks Honey, dangerously.

Severely-fringed, ruby-lipped Carla, in a Stella McCartney LBD, with hip bones like axeheads and a clavicle like a cross-bow, lolls at the fireplace with Howard. They are having a conspiratorial smirking conversation in a manner which Honey is aware that her shark-eyed mother would be only too ready to point out looks very much like “cahoots.”

Carla throws her head back at something Howard has said and emits a sequined laugh. Idly, her smokey eyes trawl the room, those perfect lips curling ever so slightly as she takes in the thick ankles of Linda in accounts; the pendulous be-crumbed gut of Jasper in that ridiculous bow-tie; and the wrinkled back and midriff of her hostess’s linen dress. Some body-types should never wear linen, thinks Carla, making sure to catch Honey’s eye and communicate this to her with a slow, sly blink. Honey avoids looking at the contempt she knows is radiating from Howard’s face.

Honey has a third glass of champagne. Right in front of Howard.

Some time passes. The volume of the party is louder now, the teeth are flashing more, and everybody’s underwear loosens just a smidge.

Carlos has already identified three cold-ass bitches and two probable lesbians amongst his female superiors and does not understand why his fantastic jeans are not having the effect they usually have on the women back in Arkansas. Tight-ass city shrews, he thinks. Carlos often adds ‘-ass” to his adjectives. Carlos thinks a lot about asses in general. He gets himself another Scotch from the no-host bar.

Improbably, Oliver is saying something to Jemima that she is finally drunk enough to think borders on interesting. Emboldened, Oliver moves closer to her, raises his arm and leans on the wall in a proprietorially looming way.

Honey circulates, her world now fuzzier than before. She is seeing things as if in cinema shots.

Howard’s eyes, Carla’s smirk, Howard’s pale, strangely vulnerable Adam’s apple, Carla laughing. She approaches them, wobbling in her heels precariously.

Carla is asking someone “Well, darling, after all, what IS the way to a man’s heart?”

Suddenly, Honey knows. She knows exactly the way to Howard’s heart. Of course! Time stops for Honey and in a dream she floats towards Howard. When time starts again she is gazing calmly into the wide-surprised eyes of her husband as he looks at her, then the Williams-Sonoma olive-prong sticking out of his turtleneck at hanky pocket level, then back at her.

The room erupts. People scream. Emergency services are alerted. A few people — more than you would think — fart in sheer terror.

Jemima and a triumphant, manly Oliver will not know any of this has happened until later when they emerge from the bedroom where the coats are, adjusting their clothes, already the creeping sense of regret nibbling at the edges of Jemima’s mind. The shock of what has happened will throw her to the degree she forgets to take the morning-after pill the next day and two months later will leave her doctor’s office pale and shaking with news that crushes her far more than the loneliness did.

Carlos will rise rapidly in the company, bedding several people including Carla along the way, and will eventually gain Howard’s former position. He will be very successful. He will forget Carla who will not progress in the company further than she was on the night of the party. The scales will fall from Carla’s beautiful eyes, she will de-smoke them for a nude, natural look and move to the country to grow goats.

She will become, if anything, more of a bitch.

Honey will undergo a trial by both legal and public opinion. The former will put her in prison for two years for a crime committed during diminished responsibility. The latter will garner her a book-deal upon her release, a Slimfast Plan sponsorship deal, and a wild new foray into the world of BDSM. Honey will be very happy.

The End.

OQ / FALL 2018

145

20 Acres | House and Guest House | Unrivaled Vistas | $3,850,000 | 1510Farnham.com

Mid Century Estate | 11+ Acres | Two Legal Parcels $3,495,000 | 1071RanchoDr.com

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727 W. Ojai Ave. - Ojai - CA 93023 - Larry - 805.640.5734 - Erik - 805.830.3254 wilde-wilde.com - lwilde@west.net - erikw@west.net Larry Wilde DRE:#15216270 - Erik Wile DRT:#01461074

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Classic 1925 Downtown Spanish | Pool Guest House $1,995,000 | 608ElPaseo.com

2065 Los Encinos | Ojai Mid-Century Home with Pool 2065LosEncinos.com

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727 W. Ojai Ave. - Ojai - CA 93023 - Larry - 805.640.5734 - Erik - 805.830.3254 wilde-wilde.com - lwilde@west.net - erikw@west.net Larry Wilde DRE:#15216270 - Erik Wile DRT:#01461074

Mid Century Estate | 11+ Acres | Two Legal Parcels | $3,795,000 | www.1071RanchoDr.com 727 W. Ojai Ave. - Ojai - CA 93023 - Larry - 805.640.5734 - Erik - 805.830.3254 www.wilde-wilde.cm - lwilde@west.net - erikw@west.net Larry Wilde DRE:#15216270 - Erik Wile DRT:#01461074