the Native Son collection

“There is land and then there is the land.”

The author was speaking of his home, the rolling Tennessee hills where he spent his childhood. A giant cooperation had offered a large sum of money to buy the farm which had been in his family for generations. He beautifully and profoundly differentiated between the two.

Those words have stuck with me for decades. Nothing better describes my affection for “the land” of Ventura County – the beauty I opened my eyes to each morning as a child. I took the hills, creeks, and valleys for granted until my curiosity and ambition led me far away. Only then, from several thousand miles away, did I realize how much I loved the land of my home.

This beautiful land, with its hopeful morning light, soothing evening colors, and seductive shapes gently massage my soul and magically calms my spirit.