A Year in Paradise

By William Englander

The year is 1951. The place is Pine Valley, Calif., population 100. The school has one room. I am 8 years old and I am in Paradise!

Getting There

My father wound up with a house in Pine Valley and some commercial property in Guatay as the result of a real estate deal. Though not normally impulsive, my dad took one look at the house and its beautiful surroundings and said, “We’re moving to Pine Valley!”

Until then, we had been city dwellers, living in the Mission Hills area of San Diego. In those days, it took a couple of hours to drive between Pine Valley and San Diego.

Our new home was rustic compared with the city. It sat on about a half-acre on Buckthorn Trail, just north of Lone Pine Trail. There was no mail delivery, no telephone, few paved streets, no house addresses, no sidewalks, no lawn.

Our new home came with a sign over the front gate, “Bonny Brae.” Since we had no idea why it was named that and we weren’t Scottish, and since there was a gigantic oak tree in front of it, we made a new sign, “Giant Oak,” to replace the original one. The new name stuck for several years.

I think there were five telephones in the valley at the time. The Sharp mansion was the only home that boasted one. My dad used to drive all the way to the Rock Gas distributor, between Guatay and Descanso, to make telephone calls. It was a local call to San Diego from there. Gasoline must have been quite a bit cheaper in those days!

New Sights, Sounds and Smells

My senses were full of all sorts of new input: the smells of the pine trees, the scrub brush, the rotting leaves; the sounds of coyotes at night, the wind blowing through the trees, the leaves crackling under your feet, the birds; the sights of the trees, the manzanita bushes, the backdrop of the mountains, the snow, the stars at night; the feel of the extremes in temperature.

As an 8-year-old, I had never paid much attention to smells before. Strangely, the clean, wonderful smell of Pine Valley is one of my strongest memories. We now live in Carmel-by-the-Sea, an urban forest with many oaks and pines, and I am often mentally returned to Pine Valley by the smell of the trees.

I also had never paid much attention to birds and wildlife outside of the San Diego Zoo. The first time I saw a woodpecker at work, I couldn’t believe my eyes! I also couldn’t believe it when a bird, in the process of building a nest, decided that some of my hair would be a nice addition. He “chased” me halfway to school for several mornings.

I explored the area quite often and discovered many things — a rocky area that was a coyote den, a fallen tree that bees had converted into a hive with amazing honeycomb, and many other critters that I had never known existed. I felt such a sense of freedom as I wandered the hills and valleys.

The first time it snowed, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Everything was so beautiful! I enjoyed the follow-on activities as well — building a snowman in the schoolyard, snowball fights (those first-graders were tougher than they looked) and sledding down hills.

The One-Room School

From a kid’s-eye view, the one-room school was a defining element of life in Pine Valley. I’m not sure how much I learned in the scholastic sense during fourth grade there, but I definitely had a great time. With grades one through eight in one room, we all learned a great deal about getting along with others. We played together, sang together, ate together, partied together and, occasionally, even studied together.

The 1951 Pine Valley School picture (at left) illustrates the range in ages and grades. I’m the freckle-faced kid, second from the right in the front row. My friend, David, is kneeling in front.

I have many wonderful memories of school events and the people. I remember thinking that the Strand girls (the three pretty blond ones) were the most beautiful girls in the world. Looking at the picture now, I might have been right. I had a crush on Marilyn Strand, but I think she had her eye on David.

I remember the Christmas pageant — all of us participated. I was one of the Kings from “Orientar” (though not quite sure where that was). We also did a school skit in Spanish. I still remember the song that we fourth-graders sang.

Once a week, the school received movies. They were a fun diversion from the “rigors” of the classroom. Another weekly event was the “media van.” We learned about woodworking and safety. I think my net output for the year was a birdhouse, but I remember having fun in the process.

I walked past the Sharp mansion and Shangri-La on my way to school every day. I would fantasize about living in a big home like the Sharp mansion with a huge lawn and a pool. However, I was most intrigued by Shangri-La, by its stateliness and its native landscape.

I walked to the store to pick up our mail from our post-office box after school. Sometimes, on allowance day, I’d stop at the Pine Valley Inn for a cherry coke. I remember feeling very adult, sitting at the bar with my drink.

Friends

David, the teacher’s older son, was my best friend that year. We were inseparable. He and I and his collie, Gertie (Gertrude), roamed the hills and valleys of Pine Valley. David and I especially enjoyed playing at the city dump, located off Valley View Trail a few blocks from our house. It was amazing how many really great “finds” were there.

We also enjoyed the creek. One day, we decided to build a raft using materials from the dump and sail to San Diego. As children often are, we were blissfully unconcerned about whether the creek actually flowed all the way to San Diego or how we would get back home. Our trip lasted about 20 feet, then our raft sank and the two of us became covered with mud from head to toe. I definitely remember my mother’s less-than-positive reaction to our rafting attempt as we tracked mud into the house.

My best nonhuman friend was our cat, Boots. We bought our meat at the market in Guatay. The proprietor, who introduced himself as Rudie Patootie (I’m not making this up), had recently been “blessed” with a litter of kittens. Between his persuading my parents that they needed a cat and my pleading, we wound up with Boots. One of the things I liked best about Boots was that he slept on my bed and I could slide my cold feet under the area he had kept warm for me.

Another friend was a horse, Tiny, who we occasionally rented from the Pine Valley stables. Of course, Tiny was a huge horse, but he was great fun to ride around town.

Leaving Pine Valley

Pine Valley was total bliss for me, but my parents didn’t adjust to it as well as I did. They were used to city life, an active social life and evenings spent with longtime friends. My father had taken leave from his civil service job and opened the Hilltop Hobby Shop in one of the buildings he owned in Guatay. While I personally really loved the shop and all the neat merchandise he had, business wasn’t particularly brisk.

As city people, my folks didn’t mesh very well with the handful of full-time residents, and my father felt that the part-time residents from Imperial Valley didn’t have much regard for the full-time folks. I remember attempting to talk to a girl who was a part-time resident in front of a house near Shangri-La and being told “I’m not allowed to talk to you.” I guess there was some truth to how my dad felt.

At the end of the school year, my parents decided to return to city life. My dad sold our house and we moved to Mission Beach, which was a huge change from the mountains.

Looking Back

I look back on my year in Pine Valley as a Year in Paradise. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as happy and carefree as I did there. I do have to admit that retiring recently and living in Carmel-by-the-Sea comes really close.

If you are interested in more Pine Valley people and history, the Friends of the Pine Valley Library have put together “Echoes of Pine Valley.”

If You Go

Pine Valley is located 50 miles east of San Diego off Interstate 8 within the Cleveland National Forest. It is a quiet town with a population of approximately 1,500. Visitors to Pine Valley enjoy many outdoors activities, including hiking, biking and fishing. Pine Valley Days is held each year on the last weekend of July. It features a great parade, team penning, barrel racing, arts and crafts, food and dancing.

About the Author

Bill Englander is a retired computer programmer/consultant. He lives with his wife, Alice, and their two Maine Coon cats in Carmel-by-the-Sea.