My earliest memories (part 2)

Rebeca:

Eating a croissant stuffed with chocolate while watching a Santa Claus animation film every December 24th.

Staring at my brother's room's locked door while sitting until he ended studying - which could last for hours and hours.

Rosa: 


Getting out of my crib.

Eating bread with nocilla at my grandparents' house in their village.

Smelling wet land in Spring.

Going to the Helmántico stadium with my little sister holding my father's hand.



Nuria:

One of my favourite childhood memories is the first time I visited the sea with my family. My father had to drive our old Peugeot for many hours until we arrived in Santander. Such an amazing moment, I couldn’t believe it! I have to say that I was really afraid of the water, but also terribly excited about the sand and my “beach toys”, like the shovel or the rackets!

But definitely, the best moment of the journey was when we went to La Magdalena. I had never seen penguins, seals, lions, polar bears …  I thought that those animals only existed in my books!

That reminds me of this photo that I attach. I was so angry! I didn’t want to leave that fantastic place!

After that, my father took me to eat one of the best ice-creams I’ve ever tasted. I can’t remember the name of the shop, but I still can feel that marvellous chocolate.

Esther:

Touching my smooth hair while sucking my thumb.

Looking at the sunset in my father's warm arms on a peaceful beach.

Sweet liquorice. Not the black one, but red.

Eva Lopez:

Touching wood, smelling sawdust and looking at my grandfather´s big hands carving amazing pieces of furniture.

Smelling boiling milk, waking up early for school.

Eating bread with cream and sugar while watching "Aplauso" on TV with my grandmother.

Encarna:

It  was a scorching summer day and the dark curtains scarcely let  the light into my room. I was sleeping on the sofa, just a  short  nap to pass  the  boring  hours that  always seemed so long to me.

Suddenly, a beautiful melody woke me up, I listened carefully and decided to go out. As I rushed  down the stairs I could  hear my parents whispering in a  quiet voice and dancing slowly. The radio  was still on ... Mrs Robinson, their favourite song, was  completely unknown  to me at the time.

They  could not have seen me but I stood  in front of them near the door while a  delicious apple cake was being baked in the oven   and made me feel like a  princess in her gold shelter.

That unforgettable song always brings back the delightful,  peaceful  memories of my childhood and sometimes I still hum the tune while I try to cook a  delicious cake for my family once again.

Sara Saez:

Smelling the dish that was being cooked while I was playing with my Pin & Pon.

Looking at the camera as my aunt took a photo of me. I was wearing her sunglasses.

Lourdes:

Looking at the untiring, hard-working ants as they were fetching food in the garden. I would follow them and try to move them back to their nest using fine sand and little round grey pebbles.

Smelling the freshly cut grass while my father was mowing the lawn.

Smelling the wet soil on stormy summer days.

Singing old traditional songs with my parents and sisters on our way to my grandparents' village.

Sarahi:

Smelling and eating my grandma's delicious food, after a "tough" day at school.

Having a picnic (or barbecue) in a beautiful natural park with my lovely family and then playing a great baseball-soccer-volleyball match (or whatever we could).

Watching the shining, twinkling stars and the high desert mountains while listening to Eric Burdon & The Animals' song "San Franciscan night", as my dad was driving to our holiday destination.

Feeling my mom's soft scratching on my back in bed until I fell asleep.

My earliest memories

Some people say "We are what we remember". This is one of the mottos of a US project called Exploratorium, which collected the earliest memories of thousands of American citizens.

So I thought you guys would like to do just that too, you know, post on this blog some of the things you remember as young kids, as vividly, evocatively as possible. 

Leticia:

Smelling the wet soil in summer in my village, while I was going for a walk when the sun went down.

Looking at the mountains full of snow, and starting playing with my younger sister.

Drinking Coca Cola when it was banned for me.

Cuchi:

Looking at the clouds with my mum, trying to find funny patterns.

Listening to an ancient gramophone playing old songs in my grandma’s home, in the company of my big family.

Smelling lilacs in my aunt’s garden.

Meme:

Being on the beach, under my young parents' protection, watching  the waves coming and going steadily.

Digging a huge hole, where I unsuccessfully tried to keep the salty sea water.

And, above all, building sandcastles, always with the help of my patient beloved father.

Enrique Gonzalez:

Touching the soft ears of my teddy bear.


Listening to the annoying sound of my bike´s little wheels.

Smelling my mother´s perfume when she held me in her arms.

Looking at the ants in my school´s playground with my friends.

Eating candy cotton.

Having fun in summer afternoons in the countryside, watering the plants.

Carlos:

Listening to my father's favourite hits early on Saturday mornings. He used to start with "Get up, stand up" by Bob Marley and continue with The Beatles, Supertramp, Dire Straits and many more! Then me and my brother would dance with him.

Looking at the sea, just arrived in La Orotava (Tenerife), where we had moved, and listening to my father's first mobile phone ringing. Someone was calling to tell him that the ship with all of our things had sunk in the middle of the ocean. All my toys were spread all over the sea. I was four.

Feeling the wind caressing my face and my skin as I tried to skate faster and faster to jump higher. I wanted to have a rest on a comfortable cloud.

Guess who ...

Spending long hours with my cousin Estebi, who is six / seven years older than me and was in those days my play companion, kind of the brother I never had. He would show me his endless collections of Spanish comics, especially Capitán Trueno and Jabato, who truly became my first childhood heroes.

Look at the stupid fringe I used to have ... gosh, I remember how much I hated it! Then, I wonder why I look so serious in the photo. Probably because of that weird school smock I was wearing, I guess. Those were the days! 

Chani:

Listening to the deafening brave waters flowing into the Alagón River and crashing furiously against the rocks.

Smelling the dense green forest in spring, when flowers shedded their sweetest fragrance.
 
Touching the smooth, shiny hair of my darling, loyal dog Tito.

Belén:

Going to bed very early on the magical Three Kings’ Night, after leaving my polished shoes under the Christmas tree full of coloured lights.

I tried to fall asleep very fast, even though I was so anxious just thinking of the next morning.

I jumped out of bed when it was still dark, and rushed into my parents’ room shouting for joy. 

I remember having goose-bumps and I could hardly breathe when I saw all those presents under the tree.

My fave song: Light my Fire

If there are two relatively short-lived bands who, in spite of their short careers, had a big influence on American popular music in the glorious 60s, they are - at  least to my mind - the Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Doors. In a span of barely 6/7 years, both acts recorded some fantastic songs and albums that have lingered in the history of rock.

Indeed it's hard for me to choose just the one favourite song (or album for that matter) but recently, after many years, I listened once again to this particular one on BBC Radio in the velvety voice of a fantastic Puerto-Rican  artist who was very popular in Spain when I was a child: the extraordinarily gifted singer and guitar virtuoso - despite his blindness from birth - Jose Feliciano. I don't think many of you will be familiar with his name but I'm sure you will instantly recognize this tune:

Only years later, already a teenager in the early eighties, did I discover that Feliciano's splendid, critically acclaimed (it even won a Grammy in 1969) big-selling rendition of Light my Fire was actually a cover of one of the most popular and successful songs by The Doors, from his amazing namesake debut album released in 1967, a couple of years before Feliciano's cover:

Letra Light My Fire de Divididos

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire

You know, to me this is one of those rare occasions when a cover version is as good - if not better - than the original. But however much I like Feliciano's Latin-tinged delivery and his brilliant guitar riff, I guess I'll stick to the original stuff anyway. I just love Jim's sexy, suggestive voice (sheer class!) and those beautiful, lengthy organ and electric guitar solos in the 7-minute plus single by Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, respectively. I never ever get tired of listening to "Light my Fire", and I sing along whenever and wherever I hear it: at home, on my car's radio, in a pub ... There are a lot of stories behing this legendary song, like who wrote most of its words despite the fact that Jim Morrison, always a poet before a singer, was kind of the band's "official" lyricist. Or how the group had to cut down its play time to a mere 3 minutes so that it could be aired more often in US radio stations, as well as the controversy around their performance in the hugely popular Ed Sullivan Show, when Jim was asked not to sing the seemingly "infamous" line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" because it sort of implied the use of drugs - of course he couldn't care less and did utter the explicit words in the end. But hey, better than told by myself, you can hear all these things in this enlightening 6-minute clip:

Very sadly, Jim Morrison had an untimely death (like many other rock legends before and after him) at only 27 years of age in Paris in 1971, but the songs he left, like this one here, are the best tribute to his memory. I do hope that you will enjoy Light my Fire, whether you didn't know The Doors or you've listened to them many times before. And also it will encourage you guys to share your own favorite songs!