Even with a clothes dryer, I still miss the smell of sunshine and the drying yard.

Even though I have a dryer at home, I still love the smell of sunshine on clean clothes. It's a clear, fresh scent, as if the sun has just smoothed out every wrinkle.

A small rooftop in New York, where I still maintain the habit of drying my clothes in the sun, just like I did back home - Photo: PBN

In mid-May, the New York sun began to shine brightly. The dazzling light poured down on the bustling streets, signaling the arrival of summer. I stood on my rooftop, drying my clothes in the sun.

Every time I hang clothes to dry on the rooftop, I'm reminded of my old yard.

My two black cats also love the sun. Every morning, they follow me up to the rooftop, curling up beside me while I hang up my laundry. In the afternoon, they wait for me to come and collect the clothes. After just a few consecutive sunny days, they've become completely accustomed to it. Every day, they wait for me to do those two things as if it were an indispensable habit.

I remember when I was little, my mother would hang the clothes out to dry every day. Early in the morning, she would set up the clothesline, and by midday, the sun was blazing, they were all dry and crisp. In the afternoon, my sisters and I would go out to collect them, fold them neatly, and breathe in the faint scent of sunshine. Even with a dryer, that smell was still quite different.

The smell of a hairdryer is clean but soulless. The smell of sunshine, however, is vibrant, as if carrying the sea breeze, the salty air, and the warmth of home.

Now that I've lived in New York for so many years, every time I hang my laundry on the rooftop, I remember my mother, the old yard, and those afternoons when I ran out to collect the clothes, feeling strangely happy.

My mother calls me every day. Through her stories, I remember the summer two years ago when I returned to Nha Trang, the warm sunshine from early morning, the blue sea, the fish market, and my grandmother's familiar habit of hanging out her laundry, which hasn't changed over the years.

I laughed and told my mother that recently, a student had asked me, "What do your clothes smell so fresh?" I replied, "It smells like sunshine." My mother laughed over the phone and said, "The sunshine here is abundant from early morning, dear."

My mother wakes up at dawn, goes to the beach for a swim, then stops by the market to buy fresh fish to cook lunch. Even though Nha Trang starts to get crowded with tourists when summer arrives, she still maintains her old habit. Early in the morning, she hangs her clothes out to dry in the sun all day. She says she can't break that habit, even though they have a clothes dryer at home.

My black cat is dozing off, enjoying the early summer sun on the rooftop - Photo: PBN

Amidst the golden May sunshine of New York, I miss Nha Trang.

My younger brother and I left home to study abroad and have been living overseas for many years. Only our parents remain in our empty house, but my mother still maintains her daily habit of drying clothes in the sun.

I laughed and told my mother, "The dryer is fast and convenient, Mom." She just smiled and said, "It's fast, but the smell of sunshine is different, my dear." Perhaps that difference is the smell of home, the smell of memories, or perhaps it's my mother's longing for her two children, who were once tiny little kids, running out to hang and then collect the clothes with her every day.

In New York, the May sunshine is still fresh and shy, carrying a hint of spring. But in Nha Trang, the May sun is already harsh and intense.

Today, standing on the rooftop, watching the sunlight stream through the railing and the blooming flower pots, seeing my white clothes fluttering in the breeze and my two black cats dozing in the sun, I suddenly felt closer to home than ever before.

The May sunshine in New York reminds me of Nha Trang. The sunshine in Nha Trang reminds me of my childhood, my parents, and that familiar, irreplaceable scent of sunshine.

No matter where I am, no matter how modern my clothes dryer is, the habit of drying clothes in the sun remains a thread connecting me to my homeland.

And every time I hang my clothes out to dry, with the two cats beside me, I feel like I'm bringing a little bit of Nha Trang back with me, right in the heart of sunny New York in May.

PHAM BICH NGOC

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-may-say-nhung-van-nho-mui-nang-nho-san-phoi-do-20260517221311544.htm