- Nabokov continues to speak about his passionate mother, who seemed to have a feeling that life would change soon, and so savored everything.
- Also: "She cherished her own past with the same retrospective fervor that I now do her image and my past." (2.3.1) Nabokov feels he inherited this.
- Though there was a preexisting tennis court at Vyra, it is old, and the family brings specialists from Poland to build a new one.
- Vladimir plays doubles with his brother, mother, and father or current tutor—whomever is available.
- He stores his butterfly net by the court "just in case," along with a book about tennis strategies.
- His mother loves tennis, and all games that require skill, from jigsaw puzzles to poker.
- Mushroom foraging is her favorite hobby, however, and Nabokov has many memories of her setting out, cleaning, and categorizing the different mushrooms—later to be cooked in butter, and, in the Russian gustatory fashion, served with sour cream.