That house is probably the first concrete house that was ever built in that area. Our closest neighbor lived still a few hundred yards away.
It was almost surrounded by rice fields and fruit-bearing trees. The only other man-made structure in that area was a small pump house, which my parents had also built, to house a diesel-powered water pump. That pump was used to irrigate the rice fields.
It was very quiet in that area, being away from the town proper and all its busy streets. In the morning, you could wake up at the sound of chirping birds, and at the crowing of roosters. At night, you could hear the chirping of crickets and, specially after a heavy rain, the croaking of frogs.
The house had not yet been connected to the local power grid when we moved in. We basically could not use any electric-powered appliance during those times. At night, it was very dark, and we only used kerosine lamps for lighting. Outside, we had the stars and the moon giving light from the sky above us. And yes, we also had fireflies that gave light from the trees in front of the house. I still remember the fun and the laughter we had catching fireflies, and playing in front of the house during full moons.
This painting is an acrylic-on-canvas painting. I finished this painting on the 25th of January 2014, and is my first painting for the year 2014.
