Remember, Kiss!

Cora and I like covered bridges. I can't explain more than to say we have a history. (Remember, kiss!) This particular covered bridge is in Northern CA, not far from Chico and Paradise. We found it via a geocache. It was a pretty nice day. It was coolish fall day...could have been as late as November, you will note our heavy coats and boots. Might also have been mid-winter. Wish I could recall better. Probably would help if that area of Cali had more than two seasons.



I finished my BA in History at CSU Chico. This is a tree I studied under several times. At least, until the day some ants decided I wasn't welcome. Then I studied not quite as close to this tree as before.

I liked CSU Chico. The campus was close in size to CWU, however, there were MANY more students...and student bodies...err, like History club and stuff. Hey, it was California!


Which reminds me...what, exactly, was the utility of girls wearing shin-high fleece boots with a short skirt and a down coat? They would say it was cold, but the temperature rarely, if ever, dropped below 40F during the daylight. I used to walk around in a shirt, or light jacket if it was raining. Fellow students would ask me if I was cold, and I would tell them this is spring weather for me! (Middle of December and early February in California)

I liked California. I know I have said it before. I liked all the things that were close and all the things that could grow. I taught sixth grade literature all this week. We read a story by Ray Bradbury called "All Summer in a Day." I reviewed all sorts of literary terms I dimmly recalled from my classes and also struck upon some History, given the story's 1959 copyright. I pointed out how people actually felt about the possibility of life on Venus or Mars. I pointed out that Sci-fi is often a mirror of society.

I felt I did an excellent job, and the other sixth grade teachers intimated that they would not mind me as a teammate. A couple even said I should apply for the next opening...and to let them know, so they could get into the ear of the appropriate person to have me hired. Cool, huh?

Back to the kids: We watched the movie version. They had to begin a compare and contrast essay concerning the movie and the story. I noticed Eucalyptus trees in the background of the movie...Hmmm, could that have been filmed in California by a great movie producer? ...Or maybe....SATAN?!(Sorry, 1980s Saturday Night Live Flashback![I might also be channeling Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, if you don't remember]) Sorry. Anyway, far from being filmed on another planet, this was obviously filmed in CA! The kids thought I was a genius for knowing this, but if you are a closet plant geek, you know what a eucalyptus tree looks like.

California. Winter is wet. After I graduated, I had lot of time on my hands. Cora suggested, bless her heart, I volunteer for an air museum. Since only one air museum was within range, I checked into volunteering there. I did. On one of my first days there, it was VERY rainy. I ended up spending an hour in the cockpit of the aircraft pictured(Yes, EC-121) with several veterans. We discussed such things as air traffic control and AWACs over North Vietnam. One of the veterans there had several thousand hours in the type. He was probably in his eighties. It was probably one of my most educational hours in CA. Well, maybe not...