January, 1997
My husband and I were going to an OPTIMIST District meeting held in Ventura at a motel on the beach. We planned to leave home on Thursday so that we could settle into our room, because the golf tournament was on Friday morning in Ojai. Just one day before small earthquakes of 4, 3, and 2 were reported in the hills behind Ojai. But that did not stop the golfers. Thursday I had planned a nice brisk walk along the Boardwalk. Instead I walked out the door, felt the winds blowing at 40 to 60 mph and blew right back into the motel! From my room I watched with wonder the surfers in black wet suits gutsy enough to spend their time in the cold, wind driven waves.
Friday night we watched the sunset over the Channel Islands, while the full moon shone later upon the windblown waves. Then as darkness fell, the hills above the City of Ventura erupted with flames as high as 300 feet. The forty or more fire trucks we had passed on PCH in Malibu on Thursday’s drive up were screaming past our motel and being assigned to the top of the hills above the city. En garde!
Then a miracle occurred. The winds died down and it began to rain. Our prayers for the safety of the people and homes had been answered! The next morning we looked out upon blackened hills and in the distance SNOW on a mountain top.
God was good that day to the people living in the hills of Ventura.
Elaine's Memoirs 