California Dreamin'

There was something about being a kid in the Bay Area (Northern California, San Francisco-region) in the 1970's. Too young for the Haight-Ashbury 60's and not old enough for the drug scene/disco clubs of the 70s. To my mind it was stingray bikes and skateboards and Golden Gate Park and the Russian River. With a little Doobie Brothers and Fleetwood Mac thrown in.


Thank God memory usually leaves room for only the happy residue (save for those key life-chaning moments of evil that can happen) and we mentally float down a lazy river on an inner tube in our minds.

The Russian River is emblematic of this time-period for me. I know if I delved I was a scared, confused kid. But also a happy and engaged one. We used to come up here with the family or friends and float in the river or canoe. It was a very Bay Area local scene and hair was long and puka shells were out in full force. I remember loads of sun which you didn't get in foggy town and even some nudists in the Trowbridge canoe rentals!

(not a nudist, but a canoe!)

And here we are all these years later and there are new generations that have taken over the place. My little sister is no longer skipping off with her friends telling girl secrets to each other, but is now a homeowner here a that River with two kids and I know they they will "grow up" here and have many happy memories. What great joy to be a part of that.