The smell of kitchen smoke…

As I was curled up in a thin blanket, I suddenly heard a familiar scent in the wind. The smell that followed me throughout my childhood years: The smell of kitchen smoke. A slight smoke drifts in the early morning when three groups of kitchens cook water to make tea, bringing me back to my childhood days.

Remember when I was a kid, remember the first time my mother taught me and my sisters how to make a fire to cook rice. In the countryside that day, starting a fire was very simple, just a little dry straw, a piece of rubber band or a little bagasse is enough. Firewood is collected around the house, stacked and interwoven, leaving a space for the fire to enter; There are times when lighting the fire first and then arranging the firewood around. The fire burned, my sisters and I happily clapped their hands in excitement. Small round eyes looked curiously at the burning sticks. The gray-white smoke followed the slits of the tree trunks flying in all directions, piercing the eyes and noses of the children who were staring at them, stinging. Yet we were still laughing and joking, using our hands to “slash” the smoke like real warriors. I remember the most days when it was raining, when the firewood was wet, my sisters and I blew the stove and coughed because of the smoke. Or on summer days, when the southwest wind blows strongly, the fire is blown to one side by the wind, the rice cooker on the stove has a ripe day. For a long time we were attached to the wood stove, with the smell of kitchen smoke. When I remember those days when I was a child, my heart feels happy again… The strong aroma of the kitchen smoke lingers here and there. From the small kitchen, that smoke followed the wind up to the dark thatched roof, crept through each wall of earth, ran to the back of the house, and flew straight to the sky with many unique shapes. In our imagination, it is sometimes a flying dragon, sometimes a leaf in the wind, or a rope stretching up to the blue clouds… There are afternoons we are busy chasing in the fields, the smell of smoke The kitchen mixed with the aroma of food made us children stop, inhale, and then hug our hungry stomachs and run straight home. In the minds of the children, the smoke from the kitchen was rising and it was time for lunch. Grilled dishes in charcoal are always attractive to any child, are the favorite dishes of children in the countryside, and arouse curiosity for children in the city today. Sometimes it’s just a hastily dug sweet potato in the garden or a cashew nut that has just been picked from the tree, immediately put in the embers on the stove, buried in the gray ash and wait. The faint aroma follows the smoke into each cell, evoking each sense, making people irresistible. Hold the potato and just poke it out from the coal stove, blow it and eat it, hot and fragrant. Memories of a small day suddenly came back so clearly and warmly. For those who grew up in the countryside, the fire is also a place of peace and a place to return to. My mother often said: “On the first day of the year, what can be forgotten, but must not forget to light a fire to warm the house, it will bring good things to us”. And that was also the first thing my father did on New Year’s Day, no matter how many years passed. My sister and I sat around the fire with our hands warmed. The strong scent of kitchen smoke wrapped us again, interspersed with children’s stories. That lovely image keeps reminding me… In modern life, the wood stove, coal stove has gradually been replaced by gas stove, electric stove. The corner of the kitchen is also clean now, no longer black on the walls, and no soot flying around. I was also reeling in society, seeming to have forgotten the smell of smoke rising from the branches of the trees. Suddenly I realized how long I had rushed through the best memories. I am grateful and grateful for the habit of cooking water every morning with my parents’ dear wood stove so that today, I can smell the smoke from the kitchen. Even though my eyes sting because of the smoke, I still feel as happy as celebrating. Apparently, it’s been a long time since I’ve had time for myself, with my mother, back to the peaceful countryside that raised me up. And to return to my childhood days with the light, fragrant smoke in the morning… MAKEUP