Is there a season that takes you straight back to childhood? What memory comes up?

B Natural answer

For me, it's autumn. As soon as the air gets cooler, I think of school holidays and the weeks when I didn't have to worry about much. I used to go to my grandparents' house, and the whole place had a different pace. We would spend hours in my grandparents' garden, picking fruit, kicking leaves around, and listening to the adults talk inside. I also remember those long, lazy afternoons when time seemed to move very slowly. I wasn't doing anything special, but I felt safe and free. Even today, a cold breeze or the smell of fallen leaves can bring all of that back in a second. It's not one big event, really. It's more the feeling of having no deadlines and just being outside until dinner. That season still feels very personal to me.

Key phrases in this answer

• school holidays — the break from school, usually during a longer vacation period“School holidays were the best part of the year when I was young.”
• my grandparents' garden — the outdoor space at your grandparents' home“My grandparents' garden was where we spent most of our afternoons.”
• those long, lazy afternoons — slow, relaxed afternoons with nothing urgent to do“I miss those long, lazy afternoons from the summer holidays.”
• smell of wet grass — the fresh scent you notice after rain falls on grass“The smell of wet grass always makes me think of playing outside as a kid.”
• summer evenings — the warm, relaxed part of the day in summer after the sun starts going down“We used to sit outside on summer evenings and talk for hours.”
• the first warm rain — the first rain that feels mild after colder weather“The first warm rain always feels like the start of spring to me.”