Living As One of The Invisible Homeless in Ventura County

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Guest post by (now) formerly homeless Conejo Valley resident, Lon V.

The Invisible Homeless

I frequently post about my own personal experiences while living as one of the invisible homeless in America.  My blog posts on the subject of homelessness are therapeutic for me and allow me to share my day to day experiences and insight on what’s sadly a growing trend in America.  As I’ve written before, the stress on living homeless can be deafening at times, and sometimes overwhelming both physically or emotionally.  I also believe often my stress level is reflected in my writings with posts specific to my day to day activities.  However sometimes, my posts are simply more level headed, offering my insight on today’s social issues that may effect myself and many Americans.  Ultimately, I concluded that that whatever topic I write about, as long as I am true to the subject and my writing; that’s the best I could really hope to do.

When I finally become comfortable and settle into a unique style of my own, I will decide on what my blog is really going to be consistently about.  Clearly my name in on the blogs header and my life as an invisible homeless man in America has caught the interest of many people. I thought to myself, perhaps I’m not so invisible anymore.  It’s amazing, I’ve received so many positive and encouraging emails from absolute, complete strangers.  Furthermore, I’ve forged several new wonderful and inspiring relationships with local leaders, and re-discovered family members who are now following my blog more closely.

The most remarkable relationships that I’ve been blessed with so far while being homeless  have come from two people, that I’ve been so fortunate to re-discover.  One is my older sister, Debbie, who lives in Florida.  The second is my brothers ex-fiancee’ Tina, and my nephew, Ben, who both reside in South Carolina.  Why are these two relationships, perhaps more remarkable to me than the others at this time in my life?  Well first, because they’re family members, and it’s truly heart warming to me that these two are so interested in me, and understanding of the  obvious challenges that are ahead of me.  Second, like the good lord above, these two wonderful people don’t judge me or have any preconceptions about my circumstances.  They’re both keeping an eye on my well being as best they can, and they offer friendly, common sense guidance, whenever I ask for it.  They don’t push their opinions on me, they listen and ultimately offer constructive criticism if needed.  It

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Local Thousand Oaks Moms Create Service-Learning Summer Camp That is Fun-Filled and Community Inspired

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Thousand Oaks locals, Meredith Madnick Cornelius and Anne Byer Marquart decided to create a summer camp focused on service-learning after they wanted to send their own children to one and realized there were none available for younger children.

From that realization, Camp Helping Hands™ (CHH) was born. CHH is a co-ed summer day camp for kids ages six to 13 with service-learning as its core theme.  Service-learning emphasizes both service and learning and requires participants to use their knowledge and skills to address real-life needs in their own communities.  

At Camp Helping Hands, campers will do just this by following the four phases of the service-learning process: investigation, planning, taking action, and reflection. When campers are led through this collaborative process, they share and invest their ideas and skills and feel truly committed to the project and to making a difference. Local organizations from the community will join as service partners, and local college students will lead the groups as CHH counselors.  

The theme for 2011 is “Living: Our Place in the World,” and the three-week session will be hosted at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.  During week one, CHH campers will work with Waste Management to see firsthand how a landfill can be transformed into a pollinator garden. After a brief facility tour, which includes an up-close visit with Avian Entertainment falconers and their bir

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Happy Year of the Rabbit to all Conejo Valley Residents!

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The 4th year of the 12 year Chinese Zodiac is upon us...Happy Year of the Rabbit! This Year of the Rabbit starts today, February 3, 2011 and ends January 22, 2012, leaving it about 11 days short of a year. But who's counting? (Other than me.)

Boey, the reknowned foam coffee cup artist whose work was previously featured here on Conejo Valley Guide, created this cute depiction of our rabbit reverence on this fine start to the Chinese new year. More of his work can be seen and purchased at iamboey.com.

Year of the Rabbit has a special meaning for us here at Conejo Valley Guide for obvious reasons. Rabbits allegedly have the following attributes, some, but not all of which reflect our style at CVG: Gracious, friendly, kind, sensitive, cautious, thorough, self assured, astute, lucky, soft spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, artistic, tender, shy, compassionate and flexible. Happy New Year!

Camarillo Artist Chuck Trunks Presents His Latest Work "Moonlit Pools"

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Announcing the world premier of yet another Chuck Trunks' piece, entitled "Moonlit Pools." This one really wowed me with its 3-D effect. And if you look carefully, well...if you just look...you just may well see something very familiar in this piece...but where's the moon!? See his other work on Conejo Valley Guide by clicking here.

I immediately thought Malibu and Ventura when I saw this piece. Here are a handful of Malibu activities and a few dozen Ventura activities.

Now if you'd like to order this piece*, Chuck has an arrangement with Pi Studio Printing in Camarillo where for only $39, you can order a 16 x 20 Luster Photo Print that would look great on your wall. You can also order a full blown, framed canvas gallery wrap in any size that will knock your socks off.

* The print comes with the moon, not the CVG bunny. Though come to think of it, 2011 (2/3/11 to 1/22/12) IS The Year of the Rabbit, so if you want the bunny, just ask for it!

Unveiling of the Norwegian Grade Historical Monument on January 26, 2011

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This is a guest post by Anne Schroeder, great-granddaughter of Nils Olsen, one of the original settlers in the Conejo Valley in the 1890s.

Wednesday, January 26th,  the community unveiled a monument commemorating the original Norwegian pioneers who built the Norwegian Grade. My great-grandfather, Nils Olsen and his sons Nick and Oscar are in the picture that is part of the monument. The picture was taken by Nil’s wife during the ten years it took them and their Norwegian neighbors to build it, from 1901-1911, working in the slack time between crops and harvest. The picture shows them with hoes and shovels. Off-camera was a horse-drawn blade and $60 worth of dynamite donated by the county.

Nils Olsen's grandchildren, including (from left), Neil Olsen, Mary Olsen Rydberg, David Olsen (great-grand-son), Gerry Olsen, and Wyatt McCrea.

The Olsen family is proud to be part of the monument, a group-effort that includes Ventura County, Cal Lutheran, Sons of Norway and the Pederson and Olsen families. Thirty five Olsen family members came from all over California to honor the men and boys who built the grade.

For three generations we didn’t realize the story was important, so as children we kept it to ourselves, afraid that our friends would think we were boasting—or worse, lying. After all, tractors and graders built grades, not a half-dozen men and a barefoot waterboy.

Today, Ventura County residents know the story of the grade and its restoration; even the hand-forged hoe that was pulled out of the earth by a grader. In the photo that graces the monument, my great-grandfather is holding that same hoe, down to the slight burl on the limb-handle. It is physical proof of a story that we thought would disappear into the distant past as has happened in so many communities. Fortunately, VC understands that the privilege of having participated in a community’s founding years creates obligation to share.

Historic photo on the monument. Nils Olsen is second from the left (with the famous hoe). My grandfather is second from the right. His brother Nick is in the middle with his back turned.

My mother, Jean Olsen Thompson, is 83, the oldest living relative of the Olsen family, and almost the

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Awe Inspiring Sunset Tonight - Sunday, January 23, 2011

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About a dozen of my friends and followers in Twitter and Facebook posted photos of tonight's amazing cloudy sunset on this beautiful night. Temps have been in the low to mid 70s here and with the clouds coming in, the sunsets have been spectacular. J.P. Gorham of Conejo Valley Cares took some great shots from his home in Thousand Oaks and with his permission I've posted a few below.

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