I can't imagine growing up in a better time and place that Marin in the 60's and 70's. I was raised in Stinson Beach , Mill Valley and Larkspur. Even though my family was poor I never noticed. I was always turned on to the people , the beauty of the mountain and the ocean. We were always swimming , hiking , riding bikes and having good clean sex. We were the center of all the hip things in the country , the music , the art and the movement. I never had to do any homework and graduated from high school with a 4.0 GPA ! My memory is excellent probably because I've been boasting daily for the last 40 years. I'll never forget the famous words of president L.B.J. " You never had it so good "
Did cardboard sliding really start fires or was that urban legend?
I remember going out to the end of our street every year, it seemed, to watch the hillside burn (in Terra Linda).
It's true there were endless days playing on the hills and outside on summer evenings. Popcorn and rootbeer floats. Kick the can. But no kidnappings, rape, divorce? Were you in the same Marin?
We were terrified of the Zodiac killer, went through metal detectors to get into the Civic Center library (after the shootings and the SLA), and my mother told me not to deliver girl scout cookies to the guy in the brown house who (after I defied her I found out) opened the door in his bikini underwear! And the "jesus freak" pastor who took in troubled teenaged girls was divorced by his wife in a scandal and turned up later as a bill collector.
In the words of Carrie Bradshaw, I can't help but wonder: has the world changed, or have our attitudes just changed? My single mother with four kids just wasn't as focused on us as I am on our kids. My kids, however, would just as much like to run around the hillsides (and may actually do that here in Vermont).
I agree, nothing like growing up in Marin (SCABO)!
No kidnappings, rapes, murders.
We could go all day up in the hills, were safe all day.
Was told never accept a ride by a stranger,,, because there were none back then.
Im sorry our children, grandchildren will never have that experience.
I cherish my childhood, and all the memories. But nothing like how I cherish my special friends that are still in my life today from kindergarten,,, How much better does that get???
There was a great article in the Independent Journal recently... speaking of which... remember when kids were hired to deliver the IJ. You got to have a big old canvas bag to put on your cool banana seat bike and deliver the paper.
I remember in the summer getting up really early in the morning and sitting on the stoop helping my brother fold and rubber band the papers and then deliver them.
We had so much freedom, then. We played outside and rode bikes all over.
yeah, childhood was soo much different then. we were actually children, for one thing! my brother and i always played outdoors, running through the fields, the woods or the creek. our imaginations were endless! i rode my horse everywhere alone. boredom was not a factor. kids could go all over the place-alone or in small groups-and never have to worry about anything except falling down or maybe getting poison oak and, of course, getting home in time for dinner!
and, to the original poster: i'll have to admit to a certain feeling of smugness for having grown up in marin and knowing what it was like in "the good old days" but a little sadness for what has been lost forever.
Agreed, this site is amazing. I grew up here and am visiting home for awhile, and all the great memories of Marin come back to me every time I'm here. I'd love for more people who grew up here to find out about the site...perhaps there's some way to get the word out.
Ditto - this site is great. I am loving the whole reminiscing thing and reading what people remember. It's bringing up great memories of some really fun times! It does sound so trivial though when you say "Ah those were the good old days" but actually, they WERE!
I don't think kids growing up here now will say that when they are "our" age..know why? Because they don't have drive-in movie theaters, good burger joints, they don't slide down hills on cardboard or play hide-and-seek on warm summer nights, they don't play ball in the street (probably get run over now), or climb trees - they are all stuffed in their rooms doing hours and hours of homework OR glued to their video games and computers OR hanging on the street corners being "bored".
I never remember being bored. I remember playing so hard after school that we almost fell sleep during dinner and then maybe we had an hour of homework and we had chores to do, too. I remember falling into bed at 9pm thinking to myself "I can't wait to go to school tomorrow then go outside and play with my friends!" You just want to scream to kids these days: "Get outside and visit friends and play ball and find a big piece of old cardboard and slide down that dry grassy hill! Get out of your books and your rooms and your computers and be a kid and experience life!"
Wow! This is just perfect! I grew up in Larkspur and still live in Corte Madera. Just a couple of months ago, I was reminiscing with my best friend, who recently moved back to Corte Madera, and can't afford to buy a house to live in, about the "good old days" in Marin. We were thinking we could start a club, or something, for people born/raised in Marin. Then we decided that was too stupid and snotty. This website is the perfect solution. It always amazes me when I run into people who grew up in Marin. How can we all afford it? We usually exchange knowing and sarcastic comments about Marin life then and now.
Does anyone else find that if you grew up here in Marin, and are over 30, you have advanced levels of sarcasm/snarkiness? But in a good way of course...
