What Might Have Caught Steve & Jaime’s Eyes

Artists enhance Ojai's natural beauty.

A community is more than just a cluster of houses and buildings.  It does more than provide necessary goods and services.  A village, town, or city radiates the spirits of its inhabitants.  Ojai’s downtown shines with an unconventional artistic vision.  Murals and statues mingle with the town’s natural beauty, inspiring residents and visitors.  With so much to draw the eye, one’s footsteps naturally slow when walking the streets of this high desert community.

They celebrate Ojai's heritage.

In the Six Million Dollar Man story “The Bionic Woman,” written by Kenneth Johnson, Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers reunite after several years apart in Libbey Park.  During their hour-long walk through town, I suspect their attention remained mostly upon each other.  Yet they must have stopped occasionally, perhaps near statues and fountains such as these.  

Art pours from the creator’s heart.  It radiates ideas and emotions.  In its presence, we may find ourselves overwhelmed by joy or sadness.  Tears spring to our eyes unbidden.  Our hearts beat faster.  Thoughts race through our brains.  In such moments, we not only reinterpret the past and present, but glimpse potential futures.  The artwork in Ojai—whether it was a painting, a statue, or a fountain—increased our appreciation for everything else we saw there, and fired us with possibilities for how we might enhance our own house and yard. 

They fire us with
possibilities

I’ve never seen the Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman reunion movies, but apparently Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers married in the final one: "Bionic Ever After?" Perhaps Steve and Jaime set up house in Ojai, and still walk through (or speed through, or leap over) its downtown.  Perhaps they sometimes linger beside the same creations that stilled our own feet, reconsidering their present, and glimpsing possibilities for their future together.  It’s a pleasant thought, even if it’s only whimsy.  

Ojai is a thriving town, and provides welcome escape for many Los Angeles residents.  The whimsical nature of Ojai's inhabitants finds its way into their artwork, landscaping, and buildings.  The community's attractiveness suggests that everyone needs a little whimsy now and then, don’t you think?

Dragon Dave