Slowly but almost near, spring is coming towards us. The weather is getting warmer and warmer, branches of trees begin sprouting new leaves, and all different kinds of birds fly merrily in the sky. Color is everywhere, above all ground. It stays lighter longer, a wonderful respite from the dull, dark, days of winter. Flowers begin to blossom. A new year, full of life, has begun.
I can't help thinking of my childhood. When spring is coming, wheat begins to grow after a long winter, and its small and long leaves get greener, shaking with the wind. Rapes bloom with golden flowers and give off a heavy scent. The trees begin to bud, and in a short time, there are leaves, green and vivid, a happy reminder that the long winter is behind us and that we have happier, celebratory seasons before us and that we will not be facing the poor weather again for some time. We celebrate life, we celebrate nature, and we celebrate our close connection with both.
My deepest memory of childhood is the downstairs lawn, which was green all year round. This green lawn brought us infinite happiness as a family and as children. I recall how we would gather out there, as a family, and enjoy the lovely weather; how we children would run amok and play children’s games out there in the cradle of nature. We were a fully integrated part of it, and it was a fully integrated part of us. We were one with the lawn, inseparable.
The celebration was always important. We would have many social events on the lawn. children would run about getting into trouble while our parents would have great conversations with each other, enjoying one another's' company, enjoying the nature themselves, even though not really as hands-on as the children did.
There were always a big number of bugs on the lawn, such as grasshoppers, butterflies, beetles, ants, and a lot more. There’s no denying that the lawn was not only their land and home but also our playground and running field, where little children could sing and dance, play all day long and enjoy life for the moment. Of course, being children, we had to take our entertainment where we could get it, and the bugs and nature supplied a very fun source of entertainment for us. Most of the time, we would pick up a beautiful flower, or just catch a butterfly.
Once we arrived at the lawn with it, we would just make a mess with some extremely tiny dry twigs on the lawn, and then the grasshoppers would jump out from everywhere. When we would spot one grasshopper, we would just wait a few short moments until it rested on the grass, and then we would quickly come up with the bottle and would cage the unfortunate grasshopper in no time. When it would jump to the walls of the plastic bottle, we would put the bottle away and cover it with the lid.
I still remember how I once caught a particularly clever beetle, which unexpectedly folded up the pieces of grass I sprinkled inside the bottle and used them as a sort of staircase, in order to climb up to the highest point. Those days were the best.
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