- OH, DEER by Susan L. Friesen, 2006
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Doe and fawn seen in the parking lot at China Camp State Park, San Rafael, California--Photo: c. 2006 Susan L. Friesen
My daughters and I camped at a beautiful campground on the California
coast, north of San Francisco, last summer. China Camp State Park is a
very small state park, only less than 60 walk-in tentsites.
I love to frequent places with a fascinating history. This state park
definitely possesses that. Here's a blurb from California state parks:
A Chinese
shrimp-fishing village thrived on this site in the 1880s. Nearly 500
people, originally from Canton, China, lived in the village. In its
heyday, there were three general stores, a marine supply store and a
barber shop. Fisherman by trade in their native country, they
gravitated to the work they knew best. Over 90% of the shrimp they
netted were dried and shipped to China or Chinese communities
throughout the US.
Wouldn't it be interesting to step into a time capsule, go back in
time, and look at how life was for people in old-time China Bay? I'd
love to take photographs of the Chinese hauling-in their load of
shrimp, fixing the shrimp, sitting around talking and laughing while
the sun set on San Francisco Bay way back then. But the reality is the
Chinese were treated unfairly by the masses of mostly white European
settlers heading to San Francisco and environs during the famous Gold
Rush in 1848 and on.
Now, of course, the shrimping industry is pretty much dried-up in San
Francisco bay and along the California coast. A thriving sardine
industry once existed in California, too.
Is anyone here a fan of John Steinbeck's novels? I love the first line in Cannery Row:
"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream."
I hope everyone is doing well... I haven't had an easy time of it
personally, so just ask for your prayers and friendship at this time.
Susan
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