My Grandmother’s House Essay

When thinking of typical grandmother’s house, the first image that comes through person’s mind is probably a cozy comfortable house placed among beautiful natural surroundings, with sunny garden and birds singing all the year round. You may either believe me or not but I was lucky to live in such a house during the years of my happy childhood. My granny owned a grand building which left an indelible impression in my soul. In my narrative I want to recall the most touching moments of my life in that ‘house of wonders’.

It’s common knowledge that the place of our birth and childhood leaves the strongest impressions in our souls. Later it is always nostalgic to recall dear places, where we used to explore the world around during our early years of life. When we recall the place of our childhood, we may feel the very scent of the surroundings. Places where we used to spend good lot of our time make us feel especially nostalgic. And we are often eager to return to those places. When we do return, everything seems to be touchy and cute.

As for my personal experience, I’d like to begin with I’d like to say that I spent my childhood in Florida in my grandmother’s house. I spent there too much time not to remember it in details. As I’ve already mentioned, return to native place always arouses certain feeling of happiness or so. As for me I seem to be lucky that I spent my childhood in the country house of my dear granny. In the course of time visiting old relatives became an excellent chance to turn the time round and to become child once more. Every time I was at my granny she couldn’t help taking care of me. May be that’s why I love to visit her so much. Countryside is actually the nicest place for everybody to have really unforgettable rest. Fresh air always cheers you up and little noise helps to relax to full extent. The years of my staying in granny’s country house in Florida remained the most remarkable years in my life. I remember sand beach, which now became so popular among tourists. I was always fascinated by vast and mysterious sea. I used to walk in the forest which seemed to be full of adventures. Frankly speaking I did millions of things all children usually do in the countryside, but my staying there remained something special and dear for me personally. This impression is completed by the image of my old granny, which is a kind and cute woman, always affable and helpful. All her life she worked hard and now she is still very industrious and tender-hearted. All best moments in my life belong to my granny’s place at Florida. I consider myself to be lucky in this way, because nowadays it became the most visited resort for tourists in the USA. Florida. People tend to come here in any season, because it’s always warm and pleasant. Conditions are ideal in any way. The temperature is always stable and in my early age I was able to bathe all the year round. As I lived in the west peninsula of Florida, Mexican gulf water was especially suitable for bathing. It was warm and pleasant. Apart from this Mexican gulf is less salty in comparison with ocean waters. The water here never hurts eyes or skin. I remember how hot it was in summer when the temperature was about 35 degrees. Bathing however didn’t protect from the heat, as the water itself was 30 degrees. However I don’t really remember whether I suffered much, cause I used to spend the whole days long in the garden or in woods. Speaking about my grandma’s country house I can’t help mentioning that for some reason pensioners tend to buy houses in Florida, cause it is an ideal place for calm and tranquil life. Perfect climate attracts hundreds of people. May be just because of this I felt so satisfied and comfortable there. I don’t remember a moment of unhappiness staying there. However speaking about it, I can’t help mentioning that natural catastrophes often occur in the USA. Unfortunately it especially concerns the state of Florida. In comparison with other states, Florida was more often attacked by various hurricanes, storms, tornados and watersprouts. During my years of childhood, I experienced it on my own. I remember being amazed by this. I always knew much about different storms and tornados, cause I saw them with my own eyes.

There are people who like to move from one place to another, to live in towns, villages or country sides. My grandmother however keeps to another mode of life. During the whole life she used to stay in one place among peaceful hills, mountains, fields, rivers and streams. She has always preferred tranquil life instead of busy world of streets, city traffic, buildings and constant crowds. May be due to this she was never depressed. She was always satisfied with the place where she lived, even though she was deprived of certain modern conveniences. May be due to this I’m never feeling uncomfortable when I return there. There is always warm and friendly atmosphere. The house itself looked impressive, as it was big and old. The ivy was creeping from its red-brick walls. On the whole it seemed to be done in old-fashioned style with its big half-round windows. The surroundings amazed with numerous green trees everywhere. It created an impression of being somewhere in the park or even in the wood. Due to this I often felt a sort of lonely to some extent. It always seemed that trees hid some part of the world from me. Sometimes I felt like being in the jungles. In such moments I deepened into my inner world. In this way such surroundings gave me an opportunity to think over numerous things. Everything seemed to be so friendly that I couldn’t help just admiring it. I consider native house to be the most attractive destination in my life. Warm and gentle climate and the beauty of scenery made me fall in love with those places. I remember there being several lakes, stretching in miles of coastlines. My grandma often took me there to see the beauty of clear waters. Besides I find it outstanding that I could eat grapefruit and oranges right from the trees. It may sound odd but I do miss those happy days.

The house was not so luxurious, but there was something cute in it. From the first sight it was a usual one. There were two vast rooms with wide windows and old-styled furniture. I always felt sort of shy at the sight of those grand apartments. There also was an attic, which seemed to be just as it must be in such old houses. It was full of old things all in dust and disorder. Actually I don’t remember much from my staying there. But one of the strongest impressions was that attic. I was so attracted by the mystery of it that often spends time there trying to reveal its secrets. It’s quite ordinary children’s activity. There was always possible to find something to do. I can’t remember being bored or tired either. I always managed to entertain myself. My granny owned a vast territory of land, so I could always find attractive places to explore. Another impressive thing is federal highway Turn Pike. Actually there are not so many things which can really impress, but as a child, I admired those deserted surroundings. There were great relict swamps which later became national reserves. I dare say there is much to admire. As I spent much time there I can’t help recalling it with cute but painful feeling of nostalgia. These were happy days of my life. But every time I return to those native places, I regret I can’t really return to the past. There is no one living there now. And the house itself changed much from the times of my childhood. But the feeling of tranquility remained. Sometimes I see that narrow path leading to my grandma’s house. Though now it may have been completely hidden with grass. Life changes and we change together with it. But the only thing that remains the same is our feelings. I will always bare in heart the sense of security that I used to feel in my granny’s house.

Time of people’s childhood influences the personality most of all. My life in grandma’s house until the age of 6 made great impact on me. As I used to live in natural surroundings, apart from the city noise, I learned to feel close to nature. Everything in the house was filled with grandeur and I still respect it. And my granny was like a mistress of all those wonders which I’ve met there. I remember even there being a big dog. I don’t know exactly whether it really was big or just I was too little, but for me that dog remained a guard of the house in the first place. So that was actually how we lived. There were three of us: my granny, the dog and me. We used to spend evenings together in front of a big old fireplace. It hardly remained there now, but at that time we sat there, my granny telling me fairy-tales or real stories from life. But I didn’t see much difference cause I was no more than a child. My granny was a talented story-teller and I liked it, but it is a bit painful for me to recall it now. The more I try to remember those times, the more painful it is to continue the narration. Another vivid memory is portraits our ‘ancestors’ looking from large paintings on the walls in the hall. The matter is that the house was not quite usual. It was too old and ancient traditions still remained there. It hard to believe but still…

To know the personality of a person, psychologists make him recall for the earliest memories in his life. If you’d ask me, these would be my first days in the granny’s house, when everything seemed to be sort of enigmatic for a little child like me. I dare say I tried to explore it as deep as possible.

The very atmosphere of the house and its surroundings made me feel calm and relaxed. Sometimes it seemed that time had stopped for a moment for me to admire that world. As I moved from there when I was just 6 years old, I don’t remember much, but I do remember my feelings. The most touching recalling is may be autumn in my granny’s house. I remember it being neither warm nor cold. It just made me feel lonely a bit. I remember me walking among those numerous grand trees and admire colored leaves on the trees and on the ground. I miss that feeling of calmness and stability of the world around. I wish I could return the reality of those feelings once more. But I’ve nothing else to do rather than to keep those memories in mind and never forget about happiness of staying in my grandmother’s house. Even though I didn’t last long, I would never forget it.

References:

1. Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau ‘Tampa Florida attractions and activities’ ― 2007 http://www.visittampabay.com/
2. Robertson ‘Tampa Guide’ ― 2006 http://www.tampaguide.com/