A sense of place

In order for a property to qualify to be nominated for the National Register of Historic Places it must meet at least one of four criteria.  A characteristic on one of these criterion is that the property possess "a sense of place" among other things.  That's always been pretty ambiguous to me.  But this past week I have thought a lot about what gives something a sense of place and I believe it is the memories and events associated with the location.  My thoughts this week have been on the small, inconsequential town of Eagar, Arizona and its neighboring sister city of Springerville.

This part of Arizona is burning from the Wallow wildfire and the towns have been evacuated.  These little towns are important to me because my grandparents lived in Eagar for most of my youth (my grandpa was the mayor at one point) in fact, my grandpa's family has been in the area for generations. Both of my grandparents are now buried in the local cemetery.

Here are some of the memories that give Eagar significance in my history:

Picking and eating raspberries with grandma from her bushes
Grandpa milking the cow and the sound of it squirting into the pail
Taking a drink of warm, fresh milk and being grossed out
Watching grandma separate the cream from the milk
Listening to "Red, Red Robin" on the record player
Sitting on the couch in the kitchen looking out the back window at the corn and watching grandma make rolls for dinner
The smell of the wood burning stove in the kitchen
The red heat lamp in the bathroom
Aunt Jo's Shirley Temple doll
Riding with cousins in the back of grandpa's truck to the feed store
Playing horseshoes for hours on end with cousins at the local park
Riding along with grandpa while he drove the school bus

Luckily wildfire can't destroy the things never leave you-- memories made with loved ones.