On these hot summer days, I remember my childhood again. My hometown Thanh Hoa, summer is very hot. In the summer, when listening to the radio station of the commune, it is 36-37 degrees, but every time the sun is shining, you sweat like a bath, even when eating, you have to beat the fan. The hot sun made when I woke up in the afternoon, the mat where I lay was also dark because of sweat. On windy days, the trees are shaking because of the sun, sitting in the house looking out into the field, seeing the steam keep rising. So, almost everyone has a few or three mo fans, a type of fan made from the stem of areca leaves, also known as mo areca. This stalk hugs the tree trunk, after growing old, it falls down and is cut into a rectangle larger than the A4 paper now, at the bottom, it is folded to make it convenient to hold, easy to control and fan. . That fragrant, fragrant fan has put my childhood to sleep. Later, there were spokes fans, made of young or thin cork and knitted together, but often damaged quickly. The heat of the homeland made every house close at noon and rest quietly, our children were “bitten” by the rash all day long, their limbs were thick with red “bite” spots. When you grow up a little, just wait for the adults to sleep, then gently open the door to hide and play, play football with friends on the street. It wasn’t until later when I grew up that I bought an electric fan at home. At that time people kept calling it Lotus Fan, even though it wasn’t like that. People in the countryside, just call it that, just like motorbikes call it Honda. That simple item is the dream of many homes. At first, only wealthy families could afford it. Perhaps because of the sun and wind, my hometown doesn’t have the custom of having a real Korean New Year as much as other regions in the North. When I was a child, I hardly knew about the vegetarian cake. I don’t know if it’s because of the difficult economic conditions or the customs of my hometown. But on the contrary, the Lunar New Year, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, my hometown does it quite loudly. Almost every house has dishes such as millet tea, sticky rice, dried fish, and wine. At the market in those days, they also sold a lot of Voi leaves. The women bought them to dry and drink them. Perhaps the climate and nature also affect the lifestyle, customs and habits of each region. Despite the geographical distance, my hometown and Hanoi and neighboring provinces are not far apart. Life has changed a lot now, few people still work in the fields or depend entirely on the fields. Therefore, the impact of nature and extreme weather on the lives of people in my hometown is not as much as before. I’ve noticed that many homes have air conditioning installed. But the feeling of hometown sunshine, the feeling of gardens and fish ponds and its peace in the soul of the country people are still the same. The countryside sunshine in my memory, even though it is harsh but easy to breathe, is clean and sunny, but it cools down quickly, not hot like the streets of Hanoi. The rustic love in the countryside Summer noon calls each other to tingle green tea Yesterday I asked my daughter what she learned today, learned something new compared to yesterday. He said he hasn’t read much today, so I encourage him to find out when, where, and who made the air conditioner. It looks and shows from the beginning of the 20th century, with information about the inventor, the year of invention, the development process. I seem to be getting old, so in the past, when I heard or read something, I remembered it clearly, but now I quickly forget it. I just remember commenting back to my son: then the richest people in the world like Rockefeller probably wouldn’t have air conditioners to use, most of their lives would have to be by train, not by machine. fly. It’s the era of science and technology, I’m happier than him. My daughter seems to enjoy that comparison. I’ve only just said that, and the next thought that comes to me about each era and every aftertaste of life and I can’t say who feels happier and more comfortable than anyone, I have not shared with my children. Let your child’s awareness develop a little more. Homeland has the poetic, the love of the countryside; The street has its own charm, the beauty of the street. Contemplating a little in the hot sunny day and COVID sitting working from home and sharing with each other in the age of Facebook is also beautiful. Today’s experiences will eventually go down in human history, celebrating human life; and certainly, its interesting, only experienced people can see to appreciate and share. 2/6/2021

Nguyen Thi Tham harvests vegetables to prepare for dinner. Tham’s house is at 17F7, Tran Binh Trong Street, Nguyen An Ninh Ward, City. Vung Tau, has 3 floors with an area of ​​more than 100m2. Tham has spent more than 30m2 of the terrace to design a garden with a variety of vegetables and fruits for daily meals. Taking us to visit the garden, Ms. Tham was ready to bring knives, scissors and a basket to store vegetables harvested for dinner. Appearing in front of my eyes is a beautiful and neat garden designed scientifically by Tham and her husband, both to ensure waterproofing for the terrace and for luxuriant fruit trees. Tham’s garden has everything from spinach, collard greens, collard greens, amaranth, water spinach, chives, basil… to hard-to-grow things like mosquito nets, abalone mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, chicken thighs. . In front is a truss of gourd, squash is also fruiting. In addition to vegetables, the garden is also full of flowers with 20 pots of roses, 20 pots of tropical hydrangeas, dozens of orchids, fortune-telling plants, box orchids, jasmine… In a flash, Tham has a basket of vegetables. , fruits of all kinds for dinner. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham with a very fruity gourd is grown on her terrace garden. In order to have vegetables to eat regularly, she grows by the method of pillowing, which means that when this litter is about to die, another batch is about to be harvested. The same goes for melons, gourds, and squash, when these fruit trees begin to grow old, other fruit trees have climbed up the trellis. Ms. Tham added that, in the face of rampant dirty food on the market, which easily affects health, because she wanted to have clean vegetables for her family, in 2017 when she built this house, she also designed a garden on the yard. upper. Just like that, after finishing her job at the Ministry of Construction’s Nursing Center, she went home to take care of her garden. “There are 3 people in the family, so many times vegetables and fruits can’t be eaten, I pick them down for friends and relatives. In addition, I do more cooking at home, so I also put these clean products into serving customers,” said Tham. Mrs. Ngo Xuan Tho shows off the apple tree planted on the terrace, but it is very wrong Looking at the garden on the terrace with dangling pumpkins, bunches of apples laden with fruit, guava trees are so wrong… few would expect it to be the hand of a 74-year-old woman who still climbs 3 floors every day. Tiny, vertical stairs to the garden. The house is more than 50m2, but both generations live together, so they have to pour 3 panels and make the stairs very small to save space. Climbing to the terrace of the house I wanted to breathe, but Mrs. Ngo Xuan Tho (636/12/9 Truong Cong Dinh, Nguyen An Ninh ward, Vung Tau city) – the owner of that garden was still more agile. Ten times up and down to take care of plants, change the soil, and harvest vegetables without getting tired. Ms. Tho confided that this garden helps her to relax with old age in the city. The garden is not large, only a few tens of square meters, but she feels better thanks to it. “Every time I go to the garden to look at the vine that has grown, hug the trellis and then flower, bud, and bear fruit, I am as happy as meeting you,” said Mrs. Just like that, that small garden has been with her for nearly 20 years, every season. Ms. Tho said that at this time, the weather was rainy, so it was a bit difficult to grow vegetables, although she still had amaranth, water spinach, and cucurbits to eat all day… but the mainstay of the garden in this rainy season is fruit trees. She cherished each apple in the garden, each new ruby ​​guava with her fist, and then rejoiced when harvesting the first American figs, each strawberry brought back from Da Lat. From September onwards until Tet, when it is cold, Ms. Tho can grow kohlrabi, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower… And gourds, squash, melons, eggplants, leafy vegetables are often enough for the whole family. 5-6 people eat. “Actually, I spent tens of millions of dong to buy planter boxes, invest in an automatic irrigation system in the garden, not to mention the cost of seedlings and fertilizers… Considering the economic value, it is not necessarily cheaper. I buy vegetables from the market, but the important thing is that the garden makes me happy, my family has safe vegetables for daily meals, “said Ms. Tho. Lots of families in the city. Vung Tau also chooses to grow vegetables on the terrace to have clean vegetables for family meals. Ms. Le Thi Hai Yen (150/18 Le Loi, Thang Nhi Ward, Vung Tau City) often calls her vegetable growing place “a garden in the clouds”. Yen’s garden is small, just over 10m2, but thanks to clever placement, she can grow everything from green beans, peas, okra, bitter melon to morning glory, amaranth, and spinach. She loves flowers, so her garden also dedicates a small space to plant roses and butterfly flower pots. Rooftop gardening is gradually becoming popular in urban areas. The rooftop garden has contributed a lot to the family’s daily food, reducing a part of monthly shopping costs. For many people, gardening on the terrace is also a hobby to help them reduce stress and fatigue with daily life.

Illustration. My hometown was in the midland hills, at that time the grass was green. The message canopy ran across the hillsides. Under the forest canopy is a world of grass, flowers, myrtle, mussels, peonies… four seasons blooming. On the top of the mountain, there are sparse trees and grass that grow in places. Perched by the gray rocks, the thorny bushes stretched out their green arms in the scorching summer sun. We used to climb hills to rake pine needles, find ripe myrtle and pick leaves from those bushes. People call it the palm tree. I was too young at that time, and I don’t remember who drew it for me. I just know that I can go with my brothers and sisters to the mountains, climb like a baby goat, jump on each cliff to pick leaves, pick but not cut even though the tree has sparse thorns and bleeds. And only pick the leaves of the cake, not too old, not too young. My grandmother said to make delicious jelly and let the tree live for everyone to pick. I like the cool scent of the leaves. Sometimes, after picking, we would run around looking for wild fruits or sit on a large rock, while blooming the leaves, we would look at the village and the tiny river in the distance, holding out our little hands. embracing the sweat-drying face, welcoming the fragrant breezes blowing from the vast fields, dreaming… I love that hill! Love the young pine buds that build green towers lined up on the slopes, the fragrant pine like candles in the sky! Love the giants, grasshoppers and big elephants kicking the brakes, dancing and throwing leaves! Love the sound of howling birds, “catching shrimp braised” in the sky and the cuckoo calling from afar… But love the hill most in the ripe fruit season. Juicy red raspberries in the humid valley by the rocky crevice, clusters of sweet red-purple peonies; The sedum vine hangs tiny purple-pink fruit eyes, black alum, black pearl soup mixed with thorns and inviting thorns… The most interesting thing is that sometimes you open your nose to find the faint scent of ripe fruit, then turn the grass and trees, and catch the flowers. tufts of passion fruit charm or sweet chestnut flowers, sniffing to forget the hungry stomach… Sometimes, our children try to pick sour leaves and acrid fruits to eat. Small green cow’s udder oozes milk, small pomelos, pink and pink, transparent, fragrant, spicy… even the whole fruit is bought full of seeds and tasted… Myrtle season is a paradise for children. Just the other day, the eye-catching purple-pink petals swaying in their hands, in the hair of a few children braided in pigtails, now they turn into fruit while hanging on the branches, showing off their sweet and inviting purple belly… purple and purple… The smiles of children in the mountains and forests… The midland hills gave us delicious food, sweet fruits, raised poor children to grow up in body and soul. I often hum the rhymes as I weave my way through the sparse shrubs or bend down to pick up the pine cones rolling on the carpet of fragrant leaves. In order to remember my homeland later, I often call this the singing hill: There are blue winds Fly through the forest of childhood Where is the sweetness and sweetness Mourning purple sim hillside… Only a song left Keep flying in the nostalgia Wings of time once Wet soft clear spring water… There are steep mountain slopes Sweet white gardenia There is a pine forest that screams I lie on a carpet of fragrant leaves… Miss the misty mountain valley There are wings of clouds and the head of the wind Herd of buffaloes grazing on grass Flowers to open eyes purple pink… From the top of the immense mountain Zoom in on all four sides Seeing the small village far away Loving the old bamboo ramparts… Back to the past years Seeing the kite flying enthusiastically Seeing fragrant sweet potato buried in the kitchen Locusts, grasshoppers fly back… I love summer days Wandering in search of the smell of ripe fruit Sweet wild fruit in the mouth Sorrel leaves in the forest… Fascinated white flower rose Chirping birdsong at the top of the mountain Confused yellow butterfly wings Clap the flash of childhood… … Every time I go to the hill to pick leaves, I like it, even making jelly at home is really fun. Before that, the elder brothers or sisters or grandmothers had prepared a large pot of water to cool, a small pot of sugar syrup, sometimes just begging or hiding some sugar from the house because sugar was scarce that day, sometimes a few drops. sugar cane or holding grass roots… Glove leaves are washed many times by us, drained, dried slightly and then put in a large pot or saucepan to crush with our hands. I remember once, we even washed a pair of rubber slippers and used them as a grinding table, rubbing the leaves vigorously. When the leaves have turned into a green powder, they are wrapped in a white coarse cloth and then dipped in a pot of boiling water to cool, thoroughly dried, and squeezed out. Sometimes, we squeeze in a little bit of clear lime juice from the lime pot she eats betel nut, sometimes we don’t, but it only takes a few minutes for the pot to solidify. Sometimes to cool more, the brothers and sisters take a piece of rain cloth to cover the jelly pot and then the line is dropped to the bottom of the well, a few hours later or overnight to pull it up. Wow, it’s delicious when the green jelly pieces are cut out, dropped into a cup or bowl of sugar water, sprinkled with a little banana or grapefruit essential oil! Sometimes it’s not so “advanced”, my brothers and sisters boil some sugarcane juice, stevia roots, sprinkle some sugar obtained on the jelly and then compete to eat… Wherever you eat, cool your guts, cool your liver there, although there is not enough sweetness to mask the strong smell of fresh leaves. So many years have passed, I still remember the afternoons full of flowers and sunshine under the rustling bamboo shade, we slurped the bowls of cool green jelly like jade. Delicious dishes with a hilly flavor but even more delicious by their own hands. It’s even more delicious when receiving the sparkling smiles of grandmothers and mothers when enjoying the jelly that our children prepare… For decades, I have not returned to that ancient hill country. I don’t know if jelly gloves, sims buy… are there any trees left or erased over the years along with the soaring pine forests for a while. But in me, the grassy hills sing with the flavors of wild fruits, fragrant leaves, the first transparent, green jelly slice I ate… still remain forever in the memory and follow through life!