Beautiful, Tim. Yet another dimension to your impressive body of work for the Napa Valley Features. The power of those childhood rituals that instilled fear and helped discipline us to a patriotic ethos of that era, juxtaposed with the ritual of childhood adventures as we graduated into young adulthood, and so beautifully written. It gave me a moment's pause, thinking back to my own "duck and cover" experiences at Vichy Elementary School northeast of Napa, a full 20 years before yours. It was unsettling to realize that that heavy-handed exercise in socialization and indoctrination continued into the later 1970s in St. Helena. But your story was also reassuring as it reaffirmed that the adventures into the hinterlands of the valley were still a rite of passage for some, those two decades later as well.
Keep up the great work. It is little wonder thatNVF is accumulating the awards and notoriety that it is.
What a great story! It takes me back to my own hiking and backpacking days with my buddies — those were precious times. They included ducking into what I now know would have been a mercury mine on the Oat Hill Mine Trail, to get out of the rain. I've had too many encounters with mountain lions in the intervening years to want to camp out like that now!
(And I expressed individuality with art (it made all the difference). Music too.)
Thank you for such a great story!
I wish we could travel back to those scary adventures, instead of the present ones we are in.
Beautiful, Tim. Yet another dimension to your impressive body of work for the Napa Valley Features. The power of those childhood rituals that instilled fear and helped discipline us to a patriotic ethos of that era, juxtaposed with the ritual of childhood adventures as we graduated into young adulthood, and so beautifully written. It gave me a moment's pause, thinking back to my own "duck and cover" experiences at Vichy Elementary School northeast of Napa, a full 20 years before yours. It was unsettling to realize that that heavy-handed exercise in socialization and indoctrination continued into the later 1970s in St. Helena. But your story was also reassuring as it reaffirmed that the adventures into the hinterlands of the valley were still a rite of passage for some, those two decades later as well.
Keep up the great work. It is little wonder thatNVF is accumulating the awards and notoriety that it is.
Bravo
Doug
Tim, you are a story-telling master in the traditions of ancient cultures! I always enjoy reading them. Thank for sharing your gift.
This morning’s feature is really super super cool Tim
What a great story! It takes me back to my own hiking and backpacking days with my buddies — those were precious times. They included ducking into what I now know would have been a mercury mine on the Oat Hill Mine Trail, to get out of the rain. I've had too many encounters with mountain lions in the intervening years to want to camp out like that now!
(And I expressed individuality with art (it made all the difference). Music too.)
Was Ms.Kinney the teacher then? Today (8/3) is the first anniversary of her passing.
She was one of my favorites. A bright light in a sometimes dim world.
Oh! I felt as if I was with you.
Then, you were.
Great. Like once at same age when I thought I saw a ghost.
Thanks, Tim. Always enjoy your tales of growing up here. And waiting for that one for another time...