Peabody Creek

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9 Responses to Peabody Creek

  1. Michael Anderson says:

    When I was growing up in the Bay Area in the 1960s, before Sillyclone Valley wiped out all of the plum and apricot orchards, we had the same life-endangering adventures in places like the Adobe Creek and Stevens Creek watersheds. Now most of those old life-threatening creek beds are concrete-lined, but that concrete is slowly but surely being removed to return those creek beds to their natural state.

    Thanks Bob, I really enjoyed your recounting of this youthful tale. I’m sure many of your testosterone-poisoned fans, mostly dumb boys with less common sense than God gave a turnip (no matter where they grew up), could relate to similar circumstances. The only thing I could never figure out is how human Darwinian selection could be so forgiving.

    Michael A.

    • You mean there actually is–or was–a Stevens Creek? I always thought it was just a bunch of car dealers.

      • Michael Anderson says:

        Heh, good one George.

        Stevens Creek drains the backside of Black Mountain, which is the tallest mountain to the west as seen from Palo Alto to Santa Clara. Named after Captain Elisha Stephens from South Carolina who settled Cupertino after leading the first wagon train over the Sierra Nevada in 1844, Stevens Creek has only 20 miles of channel and drains a tiny 29 sq. miles of mixed forest open space, but upstream of the one reservoir on the creek to this day seems as wild and remote as any stream in the Sierra Nevada.

        http://www.truckeehistory.org/the-first-pioneer-wagons-crossed-the-sierra-over-160-years-ago.html (It was actually 173 years ago.)

  2. Steve Frisch says:

    I remember doing something similar in Missouri, although not as sophisticated as using a customized coaster…before realizing…hey, there are cottonmouths in here. We then had to negotiate back 2 blocks underground to get out. It was the longest 2 blocks of my life. We never did that again.

  3. Chris Peterson says:

    Great remembrance of times gone by. Having grown up in the same basic neighborhood, (end of Brighton), before we moved out to Bitney Springs Road, I’ve always wondered at how we all made it through the early years of living dangerously. And reminiscing on experiences shared some sixty years ago evokes a feeling of deep camaraderie.

  4. Judith Lowry says:

    Speaking of days gone by, stop the presses!
    Can it be true that Mr. Cottrell is now married?
    I just have to say it, Mazel Tov!
    And I’m not even Jewish.

    Blessings and joy for the happy couple.
    At this stage of life, you have mercifully skipped all the really difficult parts.
    There is nothing left but to enjoy this miracle.
    Que: Tony Bennet’s, “The Second Time Around”.

    • steve cottrell says:

      Judith:

      Thanks so much –– I appreciate the blessings and good wishes. (And Susi does as well).

      When I left Nevada City in the summer of 2010, most folks wondered how (and why) I would leave a community where I was so active and involved for so many years. Well, as you can see from the wedding pic in the May issue of the Nevada City Advocate, I made the right decision. In fact, it was the best decision of my life.

      Thanks again.

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