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califamilia
2005-05-23 @ 1:07 p.m.
i'm so tired today, and slightly sunburned after hiking at point reyes to arch rock yesterday. you'd think that 6 or 7 miles of pretty mild walking wouldn't kick my ass. but, um, it did. my parents called me friday and asked if i wanted to do the hike with them. my dad is such a history and fact nerd, which is probably where i get it from. but it was cool talking with him yesterday about some of the history of our family in california. apparently my great, great, great grandparents came to california from switzerland in 1860 or 1870 because, as my dad put it, they were dirt poor. which doesn't explain how they got here, but oh well. it seems they had a dairy farm in marin, somewhere around lucas valley. my great, great grandfather, grandpa giacomini, was the 2nd swiss italian to be born in california, according to my father. again, i'm not sure how you calculate that. it's true, my dad says, ask your grandmother. my grandmother who is not altogether lucid most days anymore, mind you. so, apparently grandpa giacomini was a big gambler and owed someone money or something so the family left marin for crescent city. see, up until quite recently, i thought that the swiss fam came over and went directly to crescent city. over a couple generations, it seems there was some back and forth between the bay area and crescent city, with a stint in yreka. and my step-great grandfather worked as an agriculture inspector at the sf ferry building way back back when. right after my grandparents were married, before my dad was born, in 1940-something, they lived in a studio at 550 fell street for $35 a month.
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