Childhood Memories

Some of you may know that I’m moving back to my hometown (and back in with my parents temporarily) to teach. I’ve actually been living in two places for the last two months since I started observing a class where I’ll be teaching. Being back on a more permanent basis has brought back all sorts of memories. I actually was going to blog about it a while ago, but I got busy and didn’t get a chance.

Things have really changed in the areas surrounding my hometown. Where there used to be a hill where cows grazed on the grass, there is now a sea of houses. They are even putting in a new freeway! It’s kind of sad to drive around and see some of the changes.

At the same time, some of the things I loved growing up are still here. I’ve wanted to take pictures of things around my hometown for a while, and the other day I finally decided to do it! It’s been on my mind more lately since I saw a post at Heather’s Blog that reminded me of my grandparents and Lucy Monroe asked about childhood memories at her blog .

Of course there are some things (like the Christmas Tree Farm) that I think are better to photo during a different time of the year and some I just haven’t gotten to yet. I’ve actually been thinking of starting a Daily Photo Blog, but as I’m not sure how long I’ll be living in the area, I’m not sure.

Anyway, I’ve posted some photos below along with some of my memories. I hope you enjoy!

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I love the horse trails that go throughout the housing development. In fact, the entire development is horse-centric; all the street names are related to horses in some way. We used to hike all over the place without even going too far from home. In fact, the trails actually run right behind the homes. And people *do* actually ride horses along them. They even have horse-crossing signs to warn cars that there may be people on horseback crossing the street.

Here is the view from one trail that is literally just up the street from our house.

My bus stop for kindergarten was just across the street at the other side of the trail. The family that lives in the house next to the trail had a horse that I used to visit. In fact, I once got in trouble for going to visit the horse instead of going home after getting off the bus!

I took a few pictures looking down the trail as well as toward the street. I violated my parents’ #1 rule, though, so shhhhhh! The rule? Always wear long pants, socks, and sneakers when on the trails in case of snakes…eeek! I was wearing cropped pants and flip-flops since I hadn’t actually planned to walk down near the trails.

We used to hike up that hill you can see in the distance in the middle shot. Back then there were no homes at the top. In fact, a few times, those hills caught on fire!

Here are a couple of other photos from a street that has seen increased traffic because of the new freeway and a nearby hiking trail park.






The increased traffic has resulted in quite a few changes. They took out a two-lane bridge near the Christmas Tree Farm and made it wider. I wish I had before and after shots!

They also took out local convenience store and replaced it with a 7-11. It’s progress, but not quite the same Bonita as it was when I was growing up. Seeing all the changes makes me quite nostalgic…