I remember hiking in the Santa Cruz mountains behind The Novitiate. I often went with my dog, Prince, a toy collie on that trail that went all the way to Lexington Reservoir. I caught a terrible cases of poison oak by petting the dog. However, one time made me immune forever. I collected sprouted buckeyes and planted them in the backyard of our home on Bruce Ave and one of them grew up to be a giant tree. For years we collected the buckeye seeds and burned them in our fireplace. They POP at random times and that's fun when watching a fire. I also walked trails up and down Los Gatos creek from Campbell percolation ponds to Vasona to Lexington. It was fun to swim at Vasona. We would dive in from the dam and swim until the park Ranger approached in his boat. It was illegal to swim there and so we had to keep an eye out for the law. Another good swimming hole was the Almaden Reservoir. That one was supposed to be so polluted with Mercury that it was dangerous to swim there... However, Both of my parents and I swam there with no ill effects... Go Figure...
My dad lived in Los Gatos as a Jr. High School and High School Student and Mom was from Willow Glen [near San Jose]. Dad moved to Los Gatos to cure his Tuberculosis at the Top of the Hill Sanitarium off Kennedy Road. When I went to my Dad's Funeral at the Unitarian Church on Blossom hill Road I could see the "Top of the Hill" from the deck outback... I felt comforted in being able to see the beginning and the end of his Los Gatos residency.
In 1976 I went with my wife to Wine Tasting at the Novitiate. They were a major supplier of wine used in Communion Services. I remember that they had a cave used for aging the red wines that had a crack in the ceiling caused by the 1906 earthquake. They used giant redwood barrels that absorbed the wine and the outside was wet. The air in that cave could make you drunk from breathing the alcohol. Los Gatos is famous for Almaden Wine and Saratoga has Paul Masson. One of my in-laws worked at Paul Masson and another worked at Sebastiani. When we went wine tasting at Sebastiani they brought out the "good stuff", wines that were for family, not sold to the general public. Yes, it really was good quality. Especially the brandy.
We had really High Quality Public Schools in Los Gatos. In Elementary School at Daves Ave we were taught the "New Math". I don't actually remember how that was different than the "Old Math" but at least they were trying to help us learn. We studied the Spanish Language all through school. I didn't really get good at it until I was an Adult working at Radio Shack on Branham Lane. It's a comissioned salesman job and many of my customers spoke Spanish as their primary language. Yes, I got good when my Paycheck depended on it. Hector Sianez was the store manager and people from all over the Bay Area would drive to our store because we had the advantage of being Bi-Lingual.
We were taught Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math at LGHS. A college prep curriculum... After I graduated from LGHS I went to Chico State for two years and the West Valley JC (an outstanding school to learn Electronics Drafting). One class at West Valley was scale model building. I took blueprints of a cabin my Dad was having built at North Shore Lake Tahoe and built an accurate scale model. I still have that model because Dad liked it and made sure it never got accidentally damaged.
I have actually fired a gun. Really! At Camp Campbell [YMCA Summer Camp] in the Santa Cruz Mountains we learned how to shoot targets with a .22 rifle. I enjoyed it. Quite similar to playing Darts or Archery. Another time I fired a large pistol at cans. ONCE. My dad's lawyer owned the pistol. It had a "Helluva Kick" and was really loud and scary. I've never actually owned a gun or had one in the house...
Camp Campbell also had a zip line. I got into a swing seat, jumped off the cliff and whoooooosh went down to the ground. At that time we were responsible for our own actions and staying safe. I suppose I could have fallen out of the zip line seat but I made sure I held on tight. BIG FUN.
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/02/things-i-remember-growing-up-in-los_28.html
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/02/things-i-remember-growing-up-in-los.html
My dad lived in Los Gatos as a Jr. High School and High School Student and Mom was from Willow Glen [near San Jose]. Dad moved to Los Gatos to cure his Tuberculosis at the Top of the Hill Sanitarium off Kennedy Road. When I went to my Dad's Funeral at the Unitarian Church on Blossom hill Road I could see the "Top of the Hill" from the deck outback... I felt comforted in being able to see the beginning and the end of his Los Gatos residency.
In 1976 I went with my wife to Wine Tasting at the Novitiate. They were a major supplier of wine used in Communion Services. I remember that they had a cave used for aging the red wines that had a crack in the ceiling caused by the 1906 earthquake. They used giant redwood barrels that absorbed the wine and the outside was wet. The air in that cave could make you drunk from breathing the alcohol. Los Gatos is famous for Almaden Wine and Saratoga has Paul Masson. One of my in-laws worked at Paul Masson and another worked at Sebastiani. When we went wine tasting at Sebastiani they brought out the "good stuff", wines that were for family, not sold to the general public. Yes, it really was good quality. Especially the brandy.
We had really High Quality Public Schools in Los Gatos. In Elementary School at Daves Ave we were taught the "New Math". I don't actually remember how that was different than the "Old Math" but at least they were trying to help us learn. We studied the Spanish Language all through school. I didn't really get good at it until I was an Adult working at Radio Shack on Branham Lane. It's a comissioned salesman job and many of my customers spoke Spanish as their primary language. Yes, I got good when my Paycheck depended on it. Hector Sianez was the store manager and people from all over the Bay Area would drive to our store because we had the advantage of being Bi-Lingual.
We were taught Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math at LGHS. A college prep curriculum... After I graduated from LGHS I went to Chico State for two years and the West Valley JC (an outstanding school to learn Electronics Drafting). One class at West Valley was scale model building. I took blueprints of a cabin my Dad was having built at North Shore Lake Tahoe and built an accurate scale model. I still have that model because Dad liked it and made sure it never got accidentally damaged.
I have actually fired a gun. Really! At Camp Campbell [YMCA Summer Camp] in the Santa Cruz Mountains we learned how to shoot targets with a .22 rifle. I enjoyed it. Quite similar to playing Darts or Archery. Another time I fired a large pistol at cans. ONCE. My dad's lawyer owned the pistol. It had a "Helluva Kick" and was really loud and scary. I've never actually owned a gun or had one in the house...
Camp Campbell also had a zip line. I got into a swing seat, jumped off the cliff and whoooooosh went down to the ground. At that time we were responsible for our own actions and staying safe. I suppose I could have fallen out of the zip line seat but I made sure I held on tight. BIG FUN.
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/02/things-i-remember-growing-up-in-los_28.html
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/02/things-i-remember-growing-up-in-los.html
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