When I was little my family had a dacha in Belarus, where me, my then non-working mom, my brother and my grandparents used to spend all summers long (my father would visit us whenever he could get away from work and make his way to basically another country). Our piece of land there was prosperous and the soils were rich - all sorts of nature's creatures lived and growed there in abundance. Nearby we had ponds with water lillies and frogs, and we had woods with numerous kinds of trees and all sorts of wild forest berries and mushrooms waiting to be picked up, and wild forest animals waiting to be discovered or maybe even hunted down... On our own lot we had various juicy fruits and garden berries that we would eat right from the trees and bushes, we had luscious flowers of all colors growing there too - I even had a beautiful pink rose planted in my name (my brother had a little oak tree planted for him). So many living things were there for us to enjoy also, I remember my favorites were friendly little grass snakes, the harmless kind with bright yellow spots on their heads - I was always fascinated with them and would touch and gently poke them on the head with my fingers, and they wouldn't mind that at all!
It all sounds just like a fairytale, doesn't it? Most of my childhood memories have to do with this amazing place, and maybe its wonderfullness is what deserves all the credit for making me remember myself and my surroundings so well since I was about 3 years old.
This is what I'm thankful for.
So beautiful! I know exactly what you are talking about- in Estonia there are also dachas (I think in all countries which used to be under the Soviet Union) and mine was near Tallinn, in a very lovely zone (called Lohusalu, mentioning just in case). My grandgrandfather had built it together with my great grandmother and I remember one summer particularly. I can remember the lunches with borsch soup that my grandgrandmother had prepared, the late afternoon's light which came through the curtains (with a funny green 60's print) in the veranda where we used to sleep after the day on the beach, the apple trees on which I used to climb and the thick warm air with a smell of pomodories and cucumbers in the greenhouse... the days spent in the forest with my grandgrandfather telling fairytells about baba-iga while we children were eating berries like popcorn & the evenings we spent infront of the camin drinking chai and eating buterbrotiki!! Oh how many memories, one of the happiest summers I've had in my childhood. Unfortunatelly, as my grandgrandfather past away and my grandgrandmother got old, there was no-one to take care of it and so we seld it. I hope one day maybe I could afford myself a house there so my children could have the same kind o rich memories of their childhood! Thanks again for this wonderful post.
ReplyDeletewhat great childhood memories- Mine also involve nature and frolicking-
ReplyDeleteI am hopeful that my monkeys will also remember their childhood with an abundance of nature.
..awww ..you wrote it so nice Julia , bring tears in my eyes ..that really sounds like a fairytale and I remembered myself as well because all my summers we spent in the gardens and near the sea , outside running , well , just like you wrote it ..that's why I love nature so much , I love natural things ..all the little creatures - when we are kids everything fascinates us so much ..I have so much memories as well ..when I was small , about 5 or 6 my grandad bought 2 little Christmas trees to plant and when we did it he said ' when I will pass away you will remember this our moment together, when you will see the tree ' , I didn't even understand what he is talking about then ! but now every time I am at my house in Riga I remember this moment and it MEAN so much to me ..and the tree is massive now : )
ReplyDelete..I never been to the Belarus even it's so close to Latvia and even my granny's dad was Belorussian ..
..Have a GREAT WEEK-END : )))
Nice that you shared it, you also made me think about mine...Anyway, thanks for sharing..Take care :)
ReplyDeletei miss spending summer vacation at a small village near to my hometown with my grandmother...just becoming one with mother nature and feeling so unwary...
ReplyDeletetime with the family is always something to be thankful for :)
ReplyDelete