Autumn Days in Ventura [pp. 1-23]

2Autumn Days in Ventura.
free from dust. Just beyond this beautiful drive is a giant grape-vine, that is
akin in size to the famous one at Santa
Barbara.
During the day the sky had been full
of sudden changes, all of which hinted
of rain, and gave a smoky, windy aspect
to the landscape. Now the mists were
swept aside to make room for the descent of a rosy twilight. Before we had
reached the wooded cafion of the San
Antonio creek, a full moon gave a magical unreality to our surroundings. The
stately trees were roofed with wild grapevines from root to crown. They were
sentinel towers along the path, and the
argent flash of water here and there
among them was the blazoned shield of
many a silent guard! A dozen times or
more we forded the rushing stream.
No painting of day-time views of the
Ojai caftion ever equaled the wildly fanciful effects seen here by moonlight.
Once a light seen through the trees
convinced us we had reached Nordhoff.
Upon inquiry, however, we found we
had yet a mile to go. De Forest ridiculously declared:
"I should always have thought it
might have been the place if we hadn't
asked."
Afterwards we rode under enormous
live-oaks, and soon through the foliage
there gleamed the lights of the "Oak
Glen Cottages."
Nordhoff was named after the author
of "California," who was the first to call
attention to this delightful health re sort. It is located on the Ojai rancho,
which consists of four leagues of land,
much of which is pre-eminently fitted for
fruit and raisin growing. Years ago
Professor Silliman, in speaking of this
grant, said, "As a rancho it is a splen did estate, but its chief value is its al most fabulous wealth in the best of oils."
Besides visitors, there are some hun dreds of people who have built homes at
Nordhoff and in the surrounding valley.
The place has an altitude of eight hun
dred feet above the sea. The climate is
unsurpassed for invalids, as it makes a
free, outdoor life possible at all seasons.
The sea winds blown over the picturesque mountains are so tempered that
exercise becomes easy and pleasant.
The warm days are followed by delightfully cool nights. People crowd to the
Ojai at all times, but especially in the
winter, when the local accommodations
are taxed to the utmost by those seeking
a refuge from harsh winds and drenching fogs. A daily stage arrives at Nordhoff from San Buenaventura, a distance
of fifteen miles.
If one desires more excitement than
the Cottages afford, there are large hotels with every convenience for tourists
and invalids. Horses and equipments
are furnished hunters and campers, as
the mountains abound in game, from
quail and rabbits to grizzly bears and
deer.
The oaks on the Ojai have been allowed to stand as Nature planted them.
There is a sense of comfort and domesticity about these trees that belongs to
no other. They throng up and down the
valley, and to right and left on the long
smooth slopes, like vast apple orchards.
No vestige of brush or briar is between
them, only the yellow stubble of wheat
or the paler tints of dead foxtail grasses.
These Ojai oaks have been the theme of
poet and painter, but no picturings of
pen or brush have done their majestic
beauty justice. Margaret listlessly en joyed their shade, with De Forest doing
his utmost to entertain her. I felt a
secret irritation at her persistent cold ness to one whose unobtrusive kindness
deserved, at least, a grateful recognition.
We visited the Matilija Springs in the
San Rafael mountains, five miles from
Nordhoff. The curving road to the hills
led through a consecution of natural
parks on uplands purple and spiced with
blooms of pennyroyal. The Matilija
canion presents an interminable study in
rocks which are heaped about in magnifi
[Jan.
20