Krotona

 Toms and Gerry

We visited old friends in Ventura and found out that the city has grown a lot in the 10 years since we've been there last.

The changes were small but perceptible. Ventura is one of the old mission towns with narrow streets so it does not yield itself to growing graciously. As a result we have jammed streets, shabby houses and overcrowded parking lots. It is right on the sea coast so in a way it is a beach town, which means expensive but scuzzy houses and apartments.

But all that is just too depressing. We drove around the town and went to visit Krotona gardens. Krotona is a Theosophy headquaters situated in a small town of Ojai near Ventura. Theosophy is kind of a "new" religion based on the writings of H. Blavatsky. Well, as expected that place was empty. It has a nice cozy library with its perpetual guardian from the old days.