I grew up in a land surrounded by mountains, walking with bear feet on the soil which once was the bed of a lake.
I grew up knowing that my home was named as the trees that surrounds it.
I grew up counting the days in order to pick up red and juicy cherries.
I grew up tasting the soil and playing with grass.
I grew up knowing that butterflies have complex Latin names that I could never remember.
I grew up trying to distinguish the mushrooms that can be eaten to the once that could be lethal.
I grew up collecting stones imagining they were eggs and pieces of wood as pieces of bread.
I grew up waiting for a falling star to make a wish.
I grew up observing ants being busy transporting crumbles.
I grew up sensing the change of temperature between day and night.
I grew up throwing mandarin skin in the fire and linger until its smell would come back to me.
I grew up sliding down a snowy hill.
I grew up spreading my arm and transforming in a tree.
I grew up searching for eagles between the clouds.
I grew up stealing sweet corn in August and grape in October from my neighbour.
I grew up walking towards the red fountain to collect drinkable water.
I grew up falling asleep on a hummock hanging from two strong pine trunks.
I grew up dreaming that spiders would cover me and my skin would become black.
I grew up shaking tall grass with a wooden stick to make vipers escape.
I grew up learning how to catch a snake.
I grew up watering plants as soon as the sun would come down.
I grew up fearing the trembling of the plates that make the crust of planet earth.
I grew up listening to my dad’s stories of skiing under the full moon.
I grew up travelling and experiencing the flavours, the temperature, the colours of different lands.
I grew up acknowledging that I do not own my land, but I am just passing by it.
I grew up reflecting that ants are smaller than me and that I am smaller than a tree.
I grew up searching for the direction of the wind so that a boomerang could come back to me.
I grew up riding a horse with the sunrise, a dry field of wheat and wet sand as companions.
I grew up collecting rubbish under water, on the top of a mountain, on a vast grass field.
I grew up being with the land, on the land, changing at its pace, speaking its idiom and constantly being surprised by it.