Where The Forest Trail Meets The River

by Larry Rintala

Overview

With the Nanaimo River on Vancouver Island as a back-drop, the author paints a vivid picture of the lifestyle, values and attitudes of a community of hard-working, country people in this true story of a young boy growing up on a farm in British Columbia in the 1960s.
He experiences both the peace and beauty – and sometimes violent power – of nature as he interacts with the land, the animals, family and neighbours. Taught by those who understand and live with nature's laws, he learns to recognize, appreciate and enjoy the diversity of his environment

Product Details

BN ID:	2940032900979
Publisher:	Larry Rintala
Publication date:	11/15/2011
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	647 KB

About the Author

For his stories, Larry Rintala draws on vivid memories of growing up in the home that overlooked the family farm 'where the forest trail meets the river'. The Petersons were the first of his family to settle on Thatcher Road in the South Wellington District outside of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Their daughter, Aili, married Arv Rintala who began farming there in about 1936. He raised beef and dairy cows, and horses to plow fields and clear land. Larry spent many of his early days following his widowed Grandpa Rintala around the farm. Larry is now the fourth generation of his family to live there.

Since Larry is younger than his two brothers by five and ten years, he tells of roaming the surrounding forests and fields accompanied only by his faithful dog. Until he started school, he was often cared for by his grandparents, helping with the farm chores while his parents were at work. His father was employed at the Harmac pulp mill near Nanaimo but spent weekends and holidays logging and blasting, which made for some exciting events in Larry's young life. His mother worked as a meat wrapper at the Overwaitea store on Gordon Street in Nanaimo and later as a female guard, or matron, at the Nanaimo RCMP's city jail cells. In his stories Larry recalls not only the simple moments such as watching TV with his brothers, helping his mom in the home and the garden, working with his dad in the garage and around the farm, but also the excitement of confrontations with the cows and the power of the river. Trips to the local Buckerfields store, and to the shops in Nanaimo, were also adventures for a young Larry. He tells of finding relief from the heat of summer days at the Nanaimo River with his mom, and the story would not be complete without tales of fishing on the ocean with his dad during vacation time.

The 'old' South Wellington School is where Larry began his formal education. He shares how exciting it was to watch the construction of the 'new' school where he continued through to grade seven. When he finished high school at the rural Cedar Secondary, Larry began working in the drywall industry. Except for a one year stint as a faller and a skidder operator, he has continued in that profession and has run his own business, Harbour City Drywall, for over twenty-five years.

In 1980 Larry married a girl from Yellow Point. For a while they lived in the community of Extension, between South Wellington and Nanaimo. However, in 1993 ...