My first home

During my two weeks on holiday, my old friend Genevieve and I went to Glen Huon and visited my old home. I lived at Glen Huon until I was six, and my first home has always had a special place in my memory. Genevieve and I were rather aimlessly wandering the Huon Valley in my parent's car when I thought of my old home! Genevieve was kind enough not to mind our detour! (See this map to see where Glen Huon is in Tasmania).

Here is Genevieve with some of the beautiful views from Lanes Rd, the road my first home is on.

I was so excited when I saw my old home from the road. I knocked on the door, and the present owners gave me a tour! Many of the rooms in the house and the big stair case seemed familiar, even though it is so many years since I have been there.

The owners also let me wander outside. It was fun to see the fruit trees my parents once planted, now covered with moss . . .

Here is the house my Grandad built . . .

Here is the wonderful pond with bull rushes, a marvelous place to a child! It was a pleasure to see it looking so similar. I have delightful memories of playing in the ferns below our home.

One of my friends grimaced when he saw this photo - apparently I am wearing far too much pink and that hat is so American (not a compliment)! I like it though, and that's all that matters!

I had a wonderful childhood enjoying the outdoors. As I was homeschooled, we often only did book work for part of the day. After that we were free to run and play outside. From when I was six until now my parents have lived on another property with plenty of land, which is near the sea. I hankered after my first home for many years after moving there, but I have multitudes of good memories of the outdoors there too.

I often ran around outside bare foot all year round! I would cut my feet on bracken fern buts, or on the shells and rocks at the shore, but that did not worry me at all. I felt really strange at the start of this year in my new job, when I had to make a rule that the children were to keep their shoes on at all times unless they asked and they had a very good reason to take them off. I had to do this, because they were taking their shoes off all over the place (they can't do their laces up either!). I kept thinking of my own childhood, free of the constraints of shoes, and standing in lines, and all day in a classroom. I learnt to read basic readers when I was three, in my old home, and never suffered academically. I can remember annoying my older brother and sister by reading the same book over and over again.

I was reminded of all this when I visted a little over three weeks ago. I was reminded to be grateful for ferns, ponds, reading, bare feet on grass, tadpoles and other simple and small joys that made my childhood a sweet one.