I am feeling so nostalgic this week after reading a series of posts that my dear friend Anna wrote on her blog about a recent trip to Calaveras County. I spent a big chunk of my adolescence and teen years living there and running around with her. If you are ever in the Sierra Nevada mountains be sure to stop in to Murphys, CA. While it is much improved since the days I lived there–there are fancy shops, wineries and restaurants now–it is still a sweet little gold rush town. The last time I was there was for my 10 year high school reunion and the thing that struck me the most was the smell. It was early autumn and the sweet woody smell totally bowled me over.
I dug up this photo from a high school dance. I think it was 1988 or 89–sometime after the Iran-Contra scandal as we cleverly used “Shred the Evidence” as the theme for the dance. Ah, the 80’s. I’m the one sitting on the toilet wearing a tie-dyed shirt I made at summer camp, looking grumpy as usual. Behind me are Kendra, Mitzi and Anna–the music for the evening surely involved “You shook me all night long” by ACDC and “One” by Metallica since they were played at every single dance.
I grew up in Linden (graduated in 1984) with Bret Harte being our arch rival in volleyball and basketball! My parents have since retired to San Andreas and I know exactly what smell you are talking about!
That photo is a treasure…and I know I’m a big dummy, but I never knew that’s where the theme of the dance came from. That’s pretty impressive for Bret Harte. All I could remember was that our prom was themed “Stairway to Heaven” — ridiculous!
Gotta love it!!!!