PIER
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The Channel Islands shadow the beaches of Ventura so that summer swells out of the southern latitudes usually don't strike with great force. But winter is another story.
In 1872 the Ventura pier was built. Five years later a storm severely damaged it.
During fierce swells in 1914 a ship slipped its moorings and cut the pier in half.
In 1926 a severe storm gave the pier a thrashing.
A 1934 fire threatened to burn the long wooden structure down.
Three years later a series of swells broke away a large section of the pilings.
In 1949 storms hit again leaving a damaged pier.
Large swells in 1969 ripped off the end of the structure.
In 1977 and 1978 the pier was so severely damaged that it remained closed to the public.
In 1986 the newly restored pier was closed again after it was weakened by succesive storms.
In 1993 the pier was renovated once again.
It never ends, not in one's lifetime, nor across a generation of lifetimes. The storms continue.
And so it is with people too. Maybe there is an imprint stamped on our foreheads. Maybe it's in the cards. Maybe there is no way around it. Forget about running from it. If you're born a scared little man, you will die a scared little man. No amount of pumping up or martial arts will fend it off. It is a source of endless amusement to me. A middle-aged accountants runs off from his wife and three kids. He just disappears. Where does he run to? Borneo, a boxcar, a freighter, a bottle? No, a wife and three kids and a job as an accountant at the other end of the country. I know I'm no different.
Many years earlier when our relationshop had begun to move towards the edge but before it had been pushed over the cliff my wife started planning an outing up the coast towards Santa Barbara. I didn't have much enthusiasm but I agreed to go. We argued over where we were going to stay; then over when we were going to leave, Friday night or Saturday morning; finally, we just argued. We ended up calling the whole thing off.
Stanley's Diner, a surf break north of Ventura is gone. It wasn't taken out in a storm. It wasn't pulverized by high waves. It was simply bulldozed because surf spots don't make money. They are not income producers or budgeted items awaiting returns. Stanley's was a beach break that formed over a rocky bottom and because multilple peaks welled up it held a lot of guys. The freeway came through and ran right over it. It's true the freeway makes the drive faster and safer. In the old days there were many accidents along that stretch of road. But we lost something good. Everyone figured it was to avoid the oil derricks and they were probably correct. As you drive towards Santa Barbara you can't help but notice the curve where the ocean was filled in with dirt to accomodate the roadbed. And you can't help noticing the grasshoppers and holding tanks on the right that were strategically spared.
Some things, once they are asundered, can never be put back in their place.