Childhood memories.

Summer is just around the corner and I started to think about my childhood summers and these of my daughters, they have long days, beach, pool and sun every day, park concerts, museums and picnics.

Back in my hometown 30 years ago I had fun too. I remember the nice shade of the mango and avocado trees in my aunt's house, the sound of the banana tree leaves moving with the breeze before the rain and the smell of guava, papaya and other fruit placing their sweetness all over the place, the taste of sugar cane and "tuna", the fruit from the cactus (not a fish), and of course the scent of the just wet dirt with the first drops of rain.

Except in the north of Mexico, summer is rainy season, with lighting and thunders. After the late afternoon rain we used to go outside in look for the rainbow, my sister put her little candy sale business in my house's garage, my brothers played with paper boats and I went to my girl-friend neighbor to chat or to the bakery to buy sweet rolls just baked minutes before I got my hands on them.

That bakery was wonderful, dark, full of racks with bread and the big oven and the bakers covered with flour.

We played on the streets and went to the beach when my parents presumed it would be a nice day with little rain, otherwise we could have adventures (and we did) with the bad shape roads. Those stories for another day.

See the picture? those are my hometown surroundings.