It is recess, on a playground in Carmel River School, sometime in early 1977. I am trying to worm my way into a circle of popular boys. I strain to follow their conversation. One says, “I live so far up the valley, I have to get on the bus at 5:30 every morning.”
I love a weird city/town/place name. My favorite when I lived in CA was Port Hueneme, and back here in NC, it's Fuquay-Varina.