What beautiful memories you have brought to my memory friend @ericvancewalton, every week is a new opportunity to test our feelings.
Before entering into the topic of my summers I want to inform you that in Venezuela there are not 4 seasons, and in Maracaibo (the largest province after the capital) there is only one season: SUMMER. In Maracaibo it is very sunny and hot due to the proximity we have to the lake, one of the largest in the world.
With this clarified, I begin my story full of a lot of nostalgia and beautiful moments.
Every year in the summer season we used to go on a trip, either to the beach or to the mountains. Days before our carousel of emotions began since we would spend 4 days different from the ones we lived daily. This year we are going to the beach, which is about 2 hours away. Being a country with so much coastline in the north and so many good beaches, we couldn't let the moment pass since we only made this trip once a year.
The day started very early, we had to get to the beach as early as possible to rent the best cabin for a group of 9 people, 7 children, mom and dad. There were always relatives who were there who had gone with their families too, so the group always grew. We would go in our truck and we always made a couple of stops, one to eat and another to buy the last things we needed and some nice floats for the children.
When we arrived we walked along the entire shore of the beach looking for our best spot, the one that winked at us, that would be the best. We wish that the car would stop so we could get out and walk along the sand and feel the cold water in the morning.
They always called the older ones to help unload all the things from the car so my mom could start making breakfast, it was almost always bread with something inside that was already prepared from home. After that we changed to begin to endure the sun and bathe, regardless of the temperature of the water, which at that time is almost always cold.
After eating we always had to rest, they didn't let us bathe because they say it hurts digestion, but in reality our desperation was great and we went to walk along the shore.
When we managed to get in again it was just playing and playing. The waves carried me and knocked me down and I always swallowed water and filled with sand brought by the wave, but that was the fun of the beach. Then we went out to collect snails and anything we found on the beach. We always took our treasures home. We took some live snails in a glass of water from the beach. They never lasted more than a week in the house as they ended up rotting and dying.
The call for lunch was between 1 and 2 in the afternoon, hungry we devoured the plate of rice with chicken that mom prepared for us and we always asked for more and more drinks, the beach makes you very hungry and very thirsty.
In the afternoon we went out for a walk to see what we found, we always went with the biggest ones and we got more treasures, different types of snails and colored stones that we said had been left by pirates.
At night we went to bed tired and slept without waking up, but early in the morning, without a clock calling us, we got up very early to continue doing the same thing from the previous day. They were four identical days but for us each one was unique, each one came with their emotions and new discoveries.
The fourth afternoon was different from all the others, it was the time to say goodbye to the beach, the sand, the wind, the palm trees and all that happiness that we left there until the next year. We were one of the first to leave the complex, crowded with people, since if we took too long we would get lines of cars and the path would be longer. We always fell asleep in the car and when we woke up we had already arrived home. We woke up sore in both mind and body, one from the sadness of leaving all that beautiful nature and the other from the burns we had on our shoulders where for several weeks we couldn't touch each other due to the burning and pain.
I am from the old generation, the one where simplicity was the most beautiful thing we could have, without phones, without internet, where the game was person to person and very entertaining to see the happy faces of your friends and family. Knowing what the water on the beach tastes like, what it's like to feel the sand on your bare feet, how much the sun's rays burn and falling asleep with the fatigue of an exhausting day of activities are times that are not repeated and that remain in our soul and our mind like a treasure that when you open it leads you to think that time flies and we miss out on many wonderful things.
