When my family moved us up to Ojai, I was around my daughter’s age now.¬† She’s about to turn 11 and will be going into the sixth grade.¬† This is really the moment when things start to really change, when awareness becomes a problem.¬† This is maybe one year away from boys, but it is definitely a time for physical change.¬† And on this note, let me say now and in public that it freaks me out that they are mandated to teach puberty to kids in the fifth grade in LAUSD.¬† This is one of the district’s biggest problems – an across-the-board method that doesn’t take into account different schools within the district, schools that can be trusted with decisions like this.¬† But I’m flying way off course here.¬† I wanted to talk about Ojai.
My mom and brother still live there.¬† My brother moved to Ojai with us and then when my mom decided to buy a home in Malibu (or thereabouts) and move us there, my brother stayed in Ojai and never left.¬† I hated Malibu — for every possible reason.¬† Mean girls, weird rich people, giant, intimidating beach I never used much.¬† Pause to react to stupidity of that last reason.¬† I really just missed my friends.¬† So I moved back to Ojai and stayed with my brother for a while.¬† That was fun.¬†¬† He was a born parent.¬† He used to give me $10 a week.¬† He ended up becoming quite a good father to his own son.
My brother is better looking than anyone has any right to be.¬† He was so good looking, in fact, that he built his reputation starting in high school.¬† Being his sister was an honor.¬† I can’t tell you how many times I went to parties and people said “you’re Scott Stone’s sister?”
Funny story about my brother.¬† He never met nor knew his father, Bob Chasse.¬† Years ago I decided to abuse technology to find him for my brother.¬† When I finally did track him down, he’d been dead for two years.¬† My brother ended up taking his name.
On Mother’s Day, we drove up, Emma and I, to Ojai’s Lake Casitas to visit with my mom and brother.
He’s got yet another pretty girlfriend.¬† This one’s a keeper, we think.¬† He’s bobbed around a bit after splitting with his wife and mother of his child but now it looks like he’s settling in with a stable, cool and fabulous chick.¬† Here she is keeping my sister’s tiny dog warm.
And here is my brother, almost 50 years old, stuck with the same dog (my sister in the background. Shshshs, don’t tell her this picture is on the web – she’ll kill me).¬† This dog must be held at all times or else she shivers pathetically.
Lake Casitas is very much like a 1950s vacation spot.¬† They have bicycles for three and floaters to rent.¬† You can’t really swim here, which sort of puts a kink in things (my brother swears he and his friends always swim there, though) and it is probably meant more for fishing than anything else.¬† The kids still went down to the dock and checked things out.
And speaking of fishing, check out this dude’s catch.¬† I’m told it’s carp.¬† Lake Casitas is apparently a good spot for bass fishing.
All in all it was a lovely day.  Ojai is the only place I know of where the sky is so big it goes from blue to indigo.  There is nothing like it and it makes me wish I could live there.  As a teenager it bored me to tears but now I think I could handle the quiet.
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What a beautiful place, Ojai and Lake Casitas. Yes, like many suburbs, beautiful, nature-ensconced, and yet so boring from a teenager’s point of view. And your brother. He looks, and from your comments, seems like a really good guy. He also looks like he could host a Nature Show, on TV with his Healthy, Good Looks.