35 Years Later... The Smells of my Childhood

The smell of warm water in a garden hose...

it brings me back to Summer holidays in the South of France, in the mid to late 80s.

Back then, my (Dutch) grandparents used to own a plot of land in a hamlet with 3 houses, near the Pyrenees (mountains).

They acquired it in the early 1970s, restored the ruins/buildings on it over the years ( with the help of my parents, among others ). And, by the time I was born, in 1981, there was a beautiful rustic summer house and a guesthouse to stay in. As well as a little swimming pool and plenty of space to set up a big tent or two, to play in the sand box, run around, play ping pong, have many meals outside, enjoy barbecues and so on and so forth.

There was a forest nearby with an area with tiny hills ( that we kids ran up and down on ) that we named, in Dutch, 'het spannende paadjesbos' ( the forest with the exciting little paths ). The nearest village could be reached by a 10 to 15 minute walk and there were cute markets, fairs and Summer fests that bring back happy memories.

On rainy days we stayed warm and cosy near the cosy fireplace in the main house. On hot days, we cooled down in the swimming pool ( using blow up animals to float in ). We spent many hours reading books and - especially- at that young an age, being read to.

Not just by our parents but also, in the mornings, by our grandparents. I remember lying in their big bed with my two sisters, underneath wooden ceiling beams that once housed a swallows' nest with baby birds in it.

Not only do I have loads of vivid memories to this place, I have also looked at hundreds of photos, over and over again. Pictures kept in albums that my grandmother kept frequenting ( with us ), fondly, up till her passing at the age of 93, in the year 2018.

It's now 35 years since my grandparents sold their house and land. Much to the regret of my grandmother, back then, as she was only 66 and still very healthy, unlike my grandfather who was 9 years her senior.

Less than a week ago, @clareartista and I acquired a plot of land in Molise, Italy. Half an hour from the sea but 650 metres above sea level.

It's fair to say that this brings back memories to those lovely, early childhood days/ weeks and months in La Brugue, France, for many reasons.

Days ago, on our new land, the smell of warm water in plastic ( possibly our solar shower or our water tank ) brought me back to the 1980s, again.

In all honesty, there's so many things that remind me of those days...

Bees and wasps, of which there are - luckily - still plenty ( although I prefer bees ). The golden fields of wheat and other types of grains. The hilly landscape. Stone houses and walls. Castles and churches. The sometimes unforgiveable heat and dryness. All kinds of little birds and birds of prey and much, much more.

Nature and wild life. I love it!

As described by Clare, earlier today, in week one of our sovereign homestead, we even witnessed a group of about 15! wild pigs. They were about to visit our land, two days ago, when we came back from a trip and it seemed like they possibly do so daily. This makes sense, as our land contains a nice bit of woodland/forest and has forest around it. According to the previous owners there's truffels to be found there in the rainy months.
I hope we will be able to find some, before the wild pigs do ;<)

I was also surprised, twice, by black scorpions ( a big and a small one ), when I picked up stones, in the span of 12 hours. Strong signs/omens that reminded me to respect nature even more than I already do.

Alright, it's time to spin an end to this write up and wind down for the night. Yesterday nigth, Clare and I returned to our other house, 2.5 hours away from our new land. She bought this place 15 years ago in what now feels like a big city ( 5000 people ). We are here to take care of the cats and (do) some other things here. As well as to pick up more things/belongings, to bring to our new land on our next trip, after the weekend.

Its' quite the contrast, to say the least and it almost feels like a different reality here.

I guess it is.

Our solar shower warming up in the sun, hours before we hung it in the beautiful old walnut tree underneath which our tent is parked/set up, for the time being

The photo above the post shows me at a huge, centuries old tree on the forest track at the edge of our land

TO BE CONVINUED...