Add my memories

I just got through reading Janet's post about gardening in Magna. I know I was only 4 when we left to move to Bakersfield, but I have a few very vivid memories of Magna, and few that I only remember from stories told about me.

About the backyard.... I remember the irrigation ditch, and the times the yard was flooded. I didn't remember that it was a raspberry bramble, but I do remember playing "hide and seek" in some bush in the middle of the yard. I can recall all the apricots, and I am sure I was a happy participant in Apricot wars.

What I really remember, though, is the fish. I have a recollection coming out in the yard one day. It may have been morning, I don't know, and seeing the yard covered in shallow water, and what to me looked like hundreds of fish flopping around!! I was so excited! I helped Mom and ???? gather up as many as we could find. I was sharing this memory with Mom a while back, and she verified for me that my perspective wasn't totally skewered by age. We gathered up a big potful of fish, one of those black enameled canning pots, or Mom's large stew pot (remember family of 11 needs a big soup pot).

I don't remember what kind of fish (probably a catfish variety), or even if I enjoyed eating them. I was only 3 at the time, and probably not really fond of fish, but I will always remember the magical moment of coming into the yard and seeing that beautiful harvest!

Another memory that I have of Magna is really basic, and may sound lame, but that's how memory goes from age 3 sometimes. It was probably David (my oldest brother for non-family readers), that was into the "creepy-crawlers" fad at the time. If you are under 40, you may not know what I'm talking about. You could purchase molds, and materials and make your own custom designed rubber bugs and spiders and snakes, oh my!

What I remember more than the crawlers, was the smell. I will never forget that aroma of melting (and sometimes scorching) rubber based materials that came out of the molds. You could use all kinds of colors, and make the most rainbow bugs in the universe! I still think of creepy-crawlers evertime I smell the aroma of burning plastics.

The most repeated story of my life in Magna, though, revolves around Dad's rsponsibilities as Bishop of our Ward in Magna. We lived just across the street from the Church building (kitty-cornered, if I recall correctly, but it's not critical). As Bishop, Dad would spend many hours at the church, or dealing with the responsibilities of a church leader. I guess in my own little 1-2 yr. old brain, that registered in an important way.

According to Mom, one night around 2-3 am, she had a neighbor lady knock on our door carrying a small diaper-clad, tow-headed kid. This good sister had woken from sleep and just glanced out her bedroom window to see me toddling along in the church parking lot. She came over and found me wandering from door to door of the building. She didn't recognize me, ( there were at least 2 large wards sharing the building, and she was in one of the other wards), and when she had asked my name, "Scott" probably wasn't enough. I couldn't say my last name yet, at least not well enough to be recognized by a stranger. When she asked what my Mommy's name was, I replied "mommy", same thing for "daddy", naturally. I couldn't tell her where I lived, or really, anything else about me.

She finally got some help when she asked where my daddy lived. My response " at da Chuwch" led her to think of Bishops, and she was able to deduce which Bishop lived closest to the building.