I blame it on Mother Nature . . .

The first 2 months of retirement I was totally creative and productive - I set goals and accomplished all of them.

But, the only step I took toward my September goal to open an Etsy shop was to take photos for a logo.

Instead of creating, I was relaxed and lazy all because of days like this.

On our morning walk yesterday, we could sense before we were at the end of the lane that the beach would be beautiful

and that kayaking would be the main activity of the day.

The wheels allow us to walk to Little Beach for launching and with the wheels on the boats we can leave the water anywhere along our route.

This remodel has sprung up in the weeks since I have been on the water.

The house is located at an ideal spot where 3 channels converge

and the views abound which ever direction one looks.

We asked the father and son fishing if the pelican was their friend and they assured us that he was their competition.

On a typical summer day, Mothers' Beach is crowded from jetty to jetty, but due to soccer season, only a few were enjoying the safest beach in town.

Anacapa Island stood in the distance and the sound of the seals jockeying for a spot on the mile buoy came across loud and clear.

Boat owners were out enjoying a day on the water

as were stand up paddlers who had the kayakers beat at a ratio of 16:9.

 Santa Cruz Island is hidden by the breakwater.

A little boy out fishing with dad assured me that they would be catching fish for dinner.

As we entered the little bay at Marina Park, the seagulls crowded around the breakwater on the left

 and smaller birds stood their ground on the jetty to the right.

I love to look toward our beach from the bay.

Zooming in on my camera, I can see all the way to our lane and the small crowd gathered on our beach.

Two Tree Hill is a city icon (old timers tell of the days when there were 7 and then 5 trees) and it is beautiful even in fall when the hills are brown.

A family from church helped build this monument

and now, the mermaid at Soter Point is another Ventura icon.

During the summer, Marina Park is filled every weekend with people throwing birthday parties and family get togethers, but like Mothers' Beach, it was relatively empty yesterday.

On our way back to Little Beach, the couple in this boat passed us and yelled out, "It's a great day, we live in paradise!" and I definitely agree with them.

On our walk over to Little Beach, our friends who live in this house on the water called to us laughing that we were headed to their neighborhood for a paddle and they were headed to our lane to sit on the beach.

Paddling back in at Little Beach, we spotted our neighbor Lorna, who was headed out with her stand up paddle board- I told her she looks like a teenager.

Mother Nature and the fact that we had company 10 days in September kept me from being productive and I did not meet my September goal.

But, I have to say that September has definitely been the most relaxing month of retirement.

Back at home a neighbor asked how our paddle was and he said, "you and Steve definitely know how to enjoy life."

And so, that will be my October goal - Enjoy Life.

I would be headed to the beach to read right now if my team didn't have a volleyball tournament this afternoon.

Hmm, does the coach really needs to be there?

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I am sharing at 

The Tablescaper - Oh, The Places I've Been

Dear Little Red House - Mosaic Monday