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In Greek mythology, the River Styx formed the boundary between Earth and the underworld Hades, also known as Hell. The River Styx circles Hades nine times and separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. It takes no time at all to get into Hell. To quote a famous lousy song, it can be done in a New York Minute and mine occurred on the afternoon of May 9, 1994, when my ex-wife had me 5150'd out of a marriage counseling session and thrown into jail without any charges ever being filed. She had obtained a restraining order that forbade me any and all contact with my 10 and 7 year old boys on the basis of a few lies that a judge believed. By stealing my children and my home, and by looting our savings accounts and instituting crushing child support payments, she destroyed my life in a matter of hours. By the time I figured out what was happening to me, it was a fait accompli. I was prevented on penalty of jail from entering my own home so I moved from one horrible living situation to the next one, always having to rent cheap rooms because the enforced child support payments did not leave enough money for me to be able to afford my own apartment. I had to live with a King Rat, a beer-a-holic/TV addict, a 6 ft. tall Amazon who screamed at her 9 year old daughter daily, and a 400-lb. obese obscenity who in a drunken stupor ordered one of his minions to beat the living daylights out of me when I was peacefully sleeping in my bed. I was almost blinded by the beating.
It's very rare for anybody to get out if Hell but on June 30, 2006, my journey across the River Styx in the opposite direction began. I had been experiencing a continuous series of users and abusers as roommates since June of 1994, and I had been forced to deal with these people temporarily because I couldn't afford my own apartment. But their abuse had increased to the point of total unacceptability so I decided there was only one way for me to put an end to the situation once and for all. I decided to get my own apartment even though I knew I couldn't afford the rent. I said to myself, "Screw it. I'll figure something out and I don't care how, but I will not be abused by anybody ever again and I will have undisturbed peace." When I made that decision, I was coping with another explosive living situation and facing an eviction. I was extremely fearful of eviction and I was in a very negative state of mind when an email came in for me out of nowhere. A real estate agent I didn't know wrote to me about an extraordinarily luxurious low-rent, rent-controlled apartment in San Clemente that had just become available. It sounded too good to be true. I met with the leasing agent the next day. I was unable to see the apartment because the tenants were still in it but I had to move fast because of the impending eviction so I wrote a check as a deposit. 24 hours later I was approved and I was in as well as out. I was technically in my new home because I had management's approval and I was officially out of Hell at the same time.
The low rent controlled situation made the apartment possible for me to afford, and it's a luxurious space with thick wall to wall carpeting, double pane windows, a washing machine and dryer in a big closet, and an extra large shower with great water pressure and waterfalls of hot water because my own hot water heater is inside my apartment. Incredible, isn't it? Peter Cross crosses the River Styx and descends into Hell in less than 24 hours, and then 12 years later the poor sod Peter Crosses the River Styx in the Opposite Direction and gets out of Hell in less than 24 hours too. That's a hell of a plot for a movie.
I am convinced that there is no better living situation for me than the one I'm in now. When I'm comfortably seated at my dining room table facing the Pacific Ocean with the romantic island of Catalina off in the distance, I feel as if I'm in the Karmic Feng Shui Center of the Universe wherein all energetic lines of beauty converge in front of my eyes. Outside my window is a lush tropical paradise without humidity, there's almost always a cool ocean breeze blowing inland with the cleanest, freshest air I've ever breathed, and there are almost no insects. That's a big deal to me because I will commit bug genocide if an ant gets into my kitchen. I often sit peacefully and watch the sun descend over the Pacific Ocean from my seemingly private lawn that I don't have to mow. During the day the color of the water is purple but at sunset, it changes to turquoise while I watch a dramatic, constantly changing painting being created in the sky for my enjoyment. I created an original sign that hangs outside my front door. My black wood sign with gold lettering reads, "The Sanctuary. Welcome home, Peter."
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Not mine of course because my words are obviously worth a thousand pictures ha ha, but here are some photos to illustrate the stunning beauty of San Clemente:
A typical spectacular San Clemente sunset over the wharf at the public beach
A tropical San Clemente sunrise illuminates the same wharf at the public beach
The view from the wharf facing the town of San Clemente
Soon after I moved to San Clemente, I discovered the famous wharf and the Fisherman's Restaurant that you see on both sides of the wharf in this photo. I really don't drink anymore but for some reason I felt like buying myself a beer here because I wanted to sit at one of the tables facing the ocean, relax, enjoy the view and observe the scene. I've never been a beer drinker but they served me a golden ale from Oregon with a piece of fresh lemon in it that turned out to be terrific. So I was able to spend over an hour sitting in comfort while I slowly savored this delicious brew.
Here's a good example of the intriguing European style restaurants San Clemente offers.
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