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All types of trees surrounded the house. In addition to the tall pines and the
flamboyán, there was a small orange tree and a “lechosa” (papaya) tree by
the front porch and an avocado tree in the back yard by the kitchen. Down the
slope from our house were several huge mango trees which produced a
voluminous quantity of delicious mangos during their season and which we
consumed as snacks by picking them up off the ground if they had just
fallen or, preferably, by knocking them down with a rock or a long pole.

On the way to our house, along the lane, there were a couple of mango trees
whose mangos were larger than normal and tasted like pineapple. A mango
is a perfect fruit for children since it comes already pre-packaged, is not
covered with pesticides or preservatives and needs no refrigeration. If you
carried a knife, and all the boys did, you could easily peel the cover off, slice
off bite-sized chunks of mango, and pop them into your mouth. However,
they could be enjoyed, just as easily, by using your teeth to peel off the cover,
then chomping off a bite. Each tree would produce hundreds and hundreds
of mangoes, which would conveniently ripen at different times during a
several-week period so that you could enjoy the fruit of one tree for a
considerable time.

Smith Cottage was a large, two-story reinforced concrete building with
absolutely no style to it; but what it lacked in architectural touches, it more
than made up in roominess. Downstairs it had a large living room that ran
all along one side of the house, with large porches on either end that were
accessed through French doors. The French doors could be opened wide
and suddenly the living room doubled in size and the wind would scream its
way through from southeast to northwest. The living room, for some
unexplainable reason, had two round columns near each end on the
stairway side of the room. You could walk all around the columns. They did
add a bit of style, but in an otherwise very functional house, they seemed out
of place.

Also on the first floor were the dining room, the kitchen and a small room
between them that we converted into our daily dining room. Just off the
living room and at the foot of the stairs was a half bath and on the other
side of the stairway landing was a small room that we used as a piano
room but doubled as a guest bedroom or a study by adding the appropriate
furniture.

Upstairs was a virtual duplicate of the first floor. The master bedroom was
located above the living room and of similar size. At each end were matching

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