Reminiscences

In my formative years when I was in grade school at Covington Elementary, I vividly remember playing on the (what seemed to me) huge field behind the school.  The playground teachers were adamant that we could not go clear to the back of the field and climb the hill that overlooked the field and which was surrounded by a forest of trees.  Kidnappers or strangers could be lurking there and we needed to be protected.  I understand their concerns now, but then I was invincible.  Anyway, what lay beyond that field in the trees I could only guess.  I didn’t know and since it was a forbidden place it made it even scarier, but somehow intriguing.

Funny how time and experience quell those fears and reduce apprehension.  The field doesn’t look nearly as big as it did then and as for the trees, well they’re gone.  Yup, gone!  Standing now in the place of that forest of fir and other varieties of trees a large iron structure is looming slowly into view.  It is the new Valley Medical center.  If you drive by on the back side by Costco and Fred Meyer, you can look at things from a different perspective, and view Covington Elementary from the back.  It makes me wonder how far the children will be allowed to run on that field now?  I’m sure there will eventually be a fence there to protect both children and property, but sadly future generations of kids will never experience the fear and trepidation that a dark, thick forest behind the field and playground might hold.  For them it will just be another big building in an ever-expanding Covington, Washington.