Skip to main content

Living In Paradise: Life Before The Camp Fire

So much has been shared in the media lately about the wildfire that all but destroyed Paradise and it's surrounding communities. Everyone has seen pictures of the apocalyptic like destruction. That's not how I want the world to see Paradise.  I want people to see it as I will always remember it, and for the way it will be again. 



#thebarefootmom


Paradise was a quiet little community nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, surrounded by canyons and beautiful evergreens. It was home to about 26,000 of the hardest working and most resilient folks you will ever meet. It was also home to an amazing array of wildlife including mule deer, grey squirrels, raccoons, foxes, California black bears, bobcats, mountain lions, many species of birds, and much more. It was a beautiful place to grow up.


Mule Deer


The area was originally inhabited by the Maidu and then settled by gold miners during the California gold rush. The largest true gold nugget ever found in California (and possibly on the North American continent) was found just east of town in the Feather River canyon. The town had several yearly events celebrating the areas rich history, including Gold Nugget Days and Days Of Living History. At the center of these celebrations was a little museum known as the Gold Nugget Museum. In addition to the traditional indoor displays, the Gold Nugget Museum had an amazing outdoor area with replicas of old fashioned buildings, including a school house, a Native American teepee, a covered bridge, and a blacksmith shop. I took my kids to the Days Of Living History event there just a few months before the fire. We got to watch blacksmith and rope making demonstrations, made tin art, went gold panning, and went on a scavenger hunt for native edible and medicinal plants. I am so glad we got the opportunity to enjoy such a neat event!


Gold Nugget Parade

The school house at The Gold
Nugget Museum


I spent my childhood exploring the woods and many creeks in the area, catching water snakes and salamanders. Paradise has some of the most gorgeous swimming holes in the world. My favorite growing up was a beautiful little swimming hole in the Feather River Canyon, called "The Nose" by locals. It's clear water is surrounded by giant boulders that are perfect for jumping off of into the cool pool of water below. Another favorite of mine was commonly referred to as "Rattlesnake Beach" (though in all the time I spent there over the years, I never ran into a single rattlesnake), located in the beautiful Butte Creek Canyon. Locals had built really awesome pools out of intricate rock dams. It was a gorgeous and peaceful little swimming hole, that I often called "my happy place". 






Hiking and exploring the natural world is one of my family's favorite activities. Paradise has miles and miles of hiking trails that meander  through the woods and along the gorgeous canyons and creeks. Living among so much natural beauty instilled in me a deep love for the natural world. It was such an amazing environment for homeschooling my children in. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity for my kids to have experienced such beauty and to have developed such a deep connection with nature. 


Butte Creek Canyon


Hiking along Butte Creek Canyon

Picking wildflowers by the lake


Fishing at Lake De Sabla



My absolute favorite place in town was my grandparent's house, located next to a historical apple orchard that was still in operation until the day of the fire. My grandparents had the house built when they retired and moved to Paradise from the bay area back in the late 1980's. Countless birthday parties and holidays were celebrated there. I had my wedding reception there and my oldest daughter's baby shower. It was always my safe place, some place I was always welcome and always felt at home. It held so many beautiful memories. 



The gazebo my grandfather built

My grandparent's yard with Noble's
Orchard behind it


My Mother In Law's front
yard in the fall




Paradise was a beautiful place to live and I am certain it will be again. Already, just barely two months after the fire, people and businesses are returning. Our ice rink, a community favorite, is open. The health center, several auto parts stores, a grocery store, and at least one bank are back up and running. My parents, along with many others, are already making plans to rebuild on their properties. We are a resilient community and I am proud to be a member of such a strong group of people. Like a phoenix, Paradise will rise from the ashes. Though forever changed, I am certain Paradise will be a beautiful place to live again. 






If your interested, you can read about my family's experience during the Camp Fire here.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill the small watertight

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilions set around a

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -several clean