Where I grew up

When I was born, my parents were living at 602 S. 800 W. Salt Lake City, UT 84104. It was a corner lot but the front and back yard were small. At the time, it seemed pretty big but I drove past it a few weeks ago and thought, "That used to be bigger." The house was white stucco with red trim. To me, it looked like the house was made out of small boulders but I was wrong. It had a nice big porch that was painted red and a steel railing. In front of the house there were some big bushes. The house faced East and across the street is I-15. We had flower bushes planted on the North side of the house and a large weeping willow. We also had strawberries planted on the North side following along the chain link fence.
In the summertime we would turn on the sprinklers and there was a sort of dip in the front yard. It would fill up with water and it felt like a mini pool. I asked my mom once why the dip was there and she told me there used to be a tree planted there. When they removed the stump, it left a dip in the ground. I liked sitting in it with the water. I also used to pretend it was a pool for my barbie dolls. There were always big spiders building their webs near the tulips. I remember they were black and yellow striped and the webs looked like spun silk the way the sun shined on them. I was amazed at the size of them and they scared me a little, yet I couldn't stay away from them.
We also had a weeping willow on the side of the house. We used to climb it all the time. My mom could see us in the tree from the kitchen window and would yell out to us when we got to high or she wanted us to come in. In the summer, we were outside all the time. The Chapman Branch Library was across the street from us to the North on 900 W. so we spent a lot of time there as kids. Inside the living room carpet was a 70's orange/red color. It was soft. There was a big window in the living room with 70's orange drapes. You could see the whole front yard out that window. There were always dead bugs behind the drapes, especially bees. I used to tell Michael that dead bees wouldn't sting him so that he's pick them up. He fell for it a few too many times and it brought me such amusement. I'm sure I'm going to hell for it. We also had a fire place in the living room. Joseph and Michael used to climb into it and get covered in soot. As soon as my parents could afford, they replaced it with a wood burning stove that they couldn't climb into. I don't really remember the couch too well. It was floral, I think, with 70's yellow and brown and orange. We also had a love seat (70's orange) that rocked. My favorite place to be was on my dad's lap when he was rocking in the love chair. We also used to rock too hard and make it fall over, but never when my dad was home.
There was also a sort of built in entertainment center next to the entrance to the kitchen. It had cabinets, an area for the tv and a space for the stereo system. We didn't have much money so we never had anything fancy. In the cupboards to the right of it my mom kept the fancy dishes and Folger's can full of quarters. I used to like playing with the quarters and mom never got mad at me for doing so. The kitchen had a linoleum floor, light blue or green. We had a round table and chairs. A counter separated the dining area from the kitchen. There was also a closet and then the normal stuff you would see in the kitchen. No dishwasher. Back then, we did all the dishes by hand. My mom would fill up the sink with dish water and we would all was our own plates after eating.
There were two bedrooms upstairs. My parents' room was in the front of the house. The bathroom was in between the two bedrooms. I shared a room with Sarah. We had bunkbeds and the carpet was a green shag. We had a closet with a window that looked into the laundry room. It was green and textured so you couldn't really see through it but I always knew when the laundry room light was on. There was also a built in cupboard where mom kept the linens and board games. Sometimes we'd climb up to the top of it and hide behind blankets when playing hid and seek. I loved that cupboard. When Hannah was born she shared the room with us too. I remember she'd keep us up crying sometimes.
You could only get to the laundry room by going through the kitchen. It seemed that room was always messy. It was a small room, just large enough for the machines. There were a few stairs going down to the back door. If you made a left you would go down to the root cellar. That room always gave me the creeps. It was DARK, even with the light on. It smelled funny, like dirt. My parents kept our food storage there. My mom did a lot of canning when we were kids. The walls were gray colored, made of I don't know what. Concrete or cement. There was burlap covering the dirt on the floor. There were also lots of spiders. I really hate spiders! There was also a doorway to the family room in the basement. That room didn't see much use because it was dark and scary downstairs. My dad's workshop was in there too. We were not allowed in there. That was a "no no room". I remember sneaking in there but never touching anything because I didn't want to break something and get a spanking. At the other end of the house, next to the bottom of the main set of stairs was Michael and Joseph's room. They had bunkbeds too. There was also a hospital bed in there and we played in there a lot. They also had a built in dresser in there. I thought that was pretty cool. Sliding down the stairs on a crib mattress was a lot of fun too.
The back yard was small too. When I was about 8 yrs old my parents had a swingset and sandbox put in. It took up most of the yard. There was a small porch area outside the back door and then tall bushes just on the outside of it for privacy, I guess. We used to spend a lot of time in the sand box. We dug holes, filled them up with water. We made little rivers and bridges and played with our barbies out there a lot. On the South side of the house, it was very narrow. If I got up on the wall, I could see into Grandma George's kitchen. She was our neighbor and her daughters Missy and Gina used to babysit us and they were really nice to me. They'd let me come over and hang out all summer and we'd listen to Eye of the Tiger and watch soap operas. Really fun! Also along that South wall we had lilac bushes. I loved the way they smelled and even now when I smell lilacs I'm reminded of my childhood.
Across the street from our house there were grassy islands in between where the cars would drive. When the sprinklers came on we'd all run over there and play in them. Missy and Gina also taught us how to play football. Their friends would come over and play on those islands and they'd always let us play with them. It all seems like a dream to think of this now. It was so long ago!