Description of growing up in pre-Castro Cuba, detailing life in various huge family settings, interspaced with childhood adventures. Life was safer and more carefree full of exuberant tales of family, Varadero beach, Belen school, fishing, foreign train rides, pirate ships, motorcycles, and rockets. Woe to the lizards in the 1950s. In these recollections, I have tried to give and convey the feel of general life in Cuba, punctuated by specific adventures I cherish. These adventures all happened in the summertime of my life... As I said before, the fertile ground of time may have created memories where only fairy tales should exist.