The Daily Prompt says “Tell us about a sensation — a taste, a smell, a piece of music — that transports you back to childhood.”

And I must say, the first thing which came into my mind was a sniff of sea air. I mean the sniff of a particular air of the river in Salem. My grandma and grandpa had and still have a their caravan on the campsite there. I did spend a lot of time there in my childhood and teenage. In holidays we did stay there for many weeks and apart from that usually all weekends in springtime and summer.

I must say I knew and know the area around all rivers there inside out. If I was bored as a teen in Salem, I usually did roam around there either with my grandparents together but later also alone and this was cool because grandma and grandpa usually took paths and I later didn´t. I ran thought forested area, over fields and slopes up. Only fen lands did stop me because I got told that it is dangerous there. I felt like an expert for the area there and I don´t talk about just a small area. I think I did roam around everywhere around the rivers there. Everything what you can see here on Google Maps and I do think there is really no place I haven´t seen or discovered…

This is how I did spend a lot of time in the nature there. I did pick off different plants to view them and I did even take some with me to gift the plant my grandma. I gave her one cool looking fern and she planted the fern near the caravan. They told me I should be careful because a ranger could be angry with me if he would find me while I gather plants. But I didn´t listen because I wanted to discover and because I was so astonished about the variety in the nature. I also loved if the sun did shine through the crowns of the trees in the forest near the river. That was always magical with the water reflection together.

I have seen mice, rats, frogs, different fishes, snails and some small snakes. I remember I did try to communicate with ravens and other birds. I always thought the ravens are creepy because they have been everywhere in small forests. I think they noticed me and I always thought their talking was even more creepy than their attendance. I guess that I did try to talk with them to overcome my fear and I do think it helped. Does that sound crazy? My grandpa and grandma said that it is good to discover nature but that I should be careful if I see boars because they are dangerous. I have seen them far away some day and ran screaming away. Looks like they were not interested in me. Back to the birds… I have seen hawks and always thought they are so beautiful and they appeared very royal to me. I am not sure why.

I bet I did forget to mention a lot. But I still think that it was like a fairy-tale. I always enjoyed our holidays and weekends in Salem. This experience is still so steady in my head, that I feel transported to my childhood if I sniff a river. It instantly reminds me to what I have discovered in my childhood and teenage. I love rivers and I sometimes still visit Salem today. Nature is just great.