Memories are Always: Memories & Coffee #KazemakaseLiteratureClub

*I would like to participate. Thank you very much. <(_ _)>~✨

*In the Showa Era

Since the theme is 'Memories,' I think I'll take a little
time slip back to my own memories from when I was in the second grade, a long time ago in the Showa era, combining it with the theme 'Coffee

,' which I missed last time.

☆☆☆☆

When I was in the second grade, it was around the time I started living at my father's home? in Kitami,
following his remarriage, after having lived at my grandparents' house in Oketo,
in eastern Hokkaido.
Due to my parents' divorce, I had been left in the care of my paternal grandparents,
but after my grandfather passed away, not long after, I transferred schools to live at my father's home.

My new mother was like a textbook example of the 'wicked stepmother'
that was a popular term back then, and I became her target.
In the freezing cold season, I was left alone in a room without any heat,
with lights out at 7 PM. I slept in bedding with ice frozen stiff around the collar...☆
Since I wasn't even allowed to have conversations in that house, it was a rather harsh living environment, but I did have friends outside.

Memories should be limited to fun episodes. (lol)

☆☆☆

The setting is far back in the Showa era. When I was in the second grade...
When I visited a friend's house who was a farmer.

I would run around the house,
or wander around nearby... and the really small pink
piglets that I could hold in one hand were so cute...

The image of playing with them still comes to mind even now.

☆☆☆

When I was invited to another friend's house, the family was out,
and the hospitality I received from my friend was
'Here, this is good, eat it!' and they handed me a
pickled eggplant taken from a large pickling barrel. I washed it and bit into it whole☆ ...
?!!?💦

Only the intense sourness became a memory☆ (lol)

☆☆☆

One of my other friends was a 'rich kid,'
and he was kind... he invited me to his house.
His family ran a large 'sweet bean factory,' and
their home was also adjacent to the factory.

His mother said, 'Wait a moment, okay? I'll brew some coffee now ♪'
Saying that, she brought out a warm drink in a cup.

'...Coffee?'

"That's right? In our house, this is coffee. I made it from amanatto beans... Is it delicious?"

"Yes. It's delicious. It's sweet... ♪"

I can only imagine the recipe, but I think it was a special, proud method that my friend's mother discovered.
Coffee made from amanatto...

Coffee made from amanatto...

Warm, sweet, gentle...
It's a memory I'm just a little bit envious of.

☆☆☆

Speaking of coffee,
the candy store back then also had coffee.
I don't think anyone knows this, but

it was a "
fancy" treat that looked like coffee powder inside a small sugar cube. Savoring it with a precocious feeling... it's a memory of a happy feeling.

☆☆☆

Kitami was also famous as a production area for mint, and naturally, there were mint fields along the road to school, so I could pluck just one leaf...
and enjoy the scent of mint... a moment I was able to have.

A refreshing scent
of a memory.

The "
tall corn fields" that were grown for livestock feed along the road... which were much taller than regular corn.

Delicious-looking cherries at a height impossible to climb... ☆

Riding my bicycle to a distant neighboring town.

The bustle of the Chrysanthemum Festival... ☆

Trying to fit five people on a bicycle
on the school playground... etc., etc...

Even just during my second year of elementary school, the fun memories are endless.

Memories are... a precious treasure, aren't they? ☆

<<The End>>

*I think memories are a treasure trove... full of treasures☆ o( 。･"･ 。 ) o ～✨

#KazemakaseLiteratureClub
#Memories
#Coffee
#ShortShort
#Essay