How long have you lived in the house you live in now? I ask, because I was truly startled by the answer my bride gave me when asked: “34 years,” she said. I asked again just to make sure I was using the same calendar. “My goodness,” I thought to myself. It seems like a few weeks ago when we piled everything we owned into my pickup and drove down 101 to the entrance to our subdivision.
I had been watching the crews that were building our home for a month or so. Of course in those days, it was all fresh and new. We were floating along laughing and acting like a couple of children because we had used my GI Loan to make this dream happen. We were the second family to move into “Sunrise Ranch,” our little slice of heaven in a little town called Gonzales.
As I drove up and down 101 to work from Salinas to King City, I never really thought about owning a house with Lorraine. Owning a house was what grown-ups did, and Lorraine and I always acted as though we were grown-ups just going on a date. Owning a house was just something we teased each other about. So one day I dropped into the sales office just to see what was going on. I felt like a child looking through the window of a bicycle shop at Christmas, hoping that Santa would bring one of those really cool looking bikes with chrome and a little light built into the front fender.
I write about those days because the neighbors behind us have just finished a gazebo behind their house. Hearing all the hammering, I had climbed up on a ladder to see over the fence, which took me back to our moving-in day in our new home. A worker had dropped off a tree in a burlap bag and told me I had to plant the tree in my front yard. “Well, just a minute,” I thought to myself. Maybe I didn’t want a tree planted where the inspector from the city told me it had to be planted. I was just trying to convince myself that I had bought a home, and if it was my home then I could do what I wanted. But as a good resident, I planted the tree.
Funny story about that tree: not long after it was planted, it “died.” So what to do? I had found the tree I wanted in a nursery on Highway 68. I knew the owner pretty well and he suggested a tree that would stand out in the subdivision and not look like everyone else’s tree. So I bought that tree and planted it where the other tree was.
I just wanted to tell you about that tree and the one that I used. The tree that was left for me was a nice tree. I know, because all my neighbors still have theirs. In retrospect, I guess that was a good idea as they grew they became really pretty. My tree just got bigger and more beautiful as time went by.
Whatever I say about that tree I have to tell you that the kids in our neighborhood loved it because it got big enough to climb. In fact, my youngest son learned about tree climbing from that tree when he got stuck and had to be talked down. That was a great time to be a parent. To see him finding out that most obstacles can be overcome if you take your time and aren’t afraid of falling. I wish all problems could be overcome as easy as my son overcame his fear of falling that day.
You are probably wondering why I am telling you all about that tree. It’s because we just cut it down. As I said, it had gotten too big to be in the front lawn, so my son that had been caught in that tree brought over his chainsaw, and with the help of neighbors in our cul-de-sac, brought it down. Oh, it still sits there not much more than a tall person. We want to cut it up and take it to the dump, but we just keep saying that because none of us want it to be cut up and forgotten.
Another adventure about our living here was the drainage ditch that was dug to catch the water from the farms east of Fanoe Road. My boys and I thought it was great that the ditch was lined with concrete, but it wasn’t as much fun to play war with. Then, just the other day I was walking Ranger, the Wonder Dog, when I noticed these kids standing on the edge of the ditch. I was a little curious because no one had played in that ditch for a long time. These kids were almost grown.
Curiosity tugged me up on the berm to see what the kids were doing. Ranger and I just stood in awe of the kids riding their skateboards down the slopes of the ditch. I told them that my sons and I had spent a lot of time down in the ditch when they were smaller. We didn’t ask for permission and I’m sure that the farmer that had poured concrete would have been a little upset, what with all the lawsuits that could be, should anyone get hurt. It was a long time ago when my boys and I played war in that ditch and it was really cool to see kids having fun.
That tree in front of our house stood tall and proud for over 30 years and will always hold a special place in my heart. I have watched many of the kids that used to climb that tree grow up and have kids of their own. I hope that they remember what fun we all had and remember the good times of their youth.
God Bless.
