When I was child growing up in Martinez there were regular school field trips to the John Muir house. I of course knew what his house looked like long, long before I ever knew anything about his impact or work. It was still moderately interesting to wander through his historic home and imagine the way things were in the ‘olden days’.
The best place to do this was the attic.
On rainy days, we were told, his daughters used to play in that big open space. The attic was usually docent-free and the many stairs it took to get there meant that it was usually teacher-free too. It had a central steep stairway that went to the bell tower where you could ring the bell and see all of Martinez from a great height. But my preferred space was the attic itself. When I was a child it was full of old trunks containing assorted old tack and bits of harness that sometimes my friend Karen and I would sort through imagining how it worked.
Don’t tell that to any ranger now, because it makes them shake their head disapprovingly but it was wonderful to lay out the separate pieces on the grand old wooden floor and think about how to harness your imaginary team of horses, which of course Karen and I owned many of.
I mention this because it has occurred to me that on its very best days, searching the internet can remind me of the feeling I had playing in that attic – unfettered discovery of treasures no one even remembered setting aside let alone using in daily life.
Yesterday I stumbled into a glorious discovery in that very attic, It all started with this 1849 Gold map of the San Francisco Area being shared on a california history facebook page. It mentions “Martines” and very little else in Contra Costa. I was surprised to see the mention of Livermore, which apparently was the early holding of one Robert Livermore, who was born in England, lived in California and even became a Mexican citizen.
Of course I wondered whether I would come across any information about him trapping beavers. but while I was looking for that I stumbled on something way way way better.
I’m sure we’ll get back to that awesome map, but I was distracted by the mention that Al Livermore also happened to be the name of a recurring farmer character in the series Lassie. And that he was part of the episode in which LASSIE SAVES BEAVERS.
Of course I ran through the hallways excitedly looking for that particular episode and wondering if it was saved for us in one of those old trunks no one looked in. And oh what a beautiful, glorious, rewarding luxurious place that trunk turned out to be.
Get a second mug of coffee or a danish and sit back in your most comfortable chair, because you will never, ever love any black and white episode from 1962 as much as you love this.
