I am familiar with this land after each flood season. I used to stand with Mr. Mien and watch the strip of land along the river, a smooth, flat, golden brown color after the flood. This alluvial land becomes a little thicker after each flood season. There is not a single weed, everything is covered under a thick layer of mud. After days of heavy rain and flood, the sunlight seems to be weaker, spreading a smooth layer of light on the young mud. The entire alluvial land along the river lies still under the new sunlight, as if there had never been a big flood, as if the wind and rain had never appeared, only the muddy yellow river water flowing strongly out there still bears the mark of the big flood, of the days of heavy rain and wind. Remembering that time, Mr. Mien said, young mud is a source of nutrients for the soil, but it is not easy for mud to become "nutrients" for plants. That layer of young mud is very dry and hard when exposed to the sun. Farmers have to plow and hoe the soil to let it "breathe". They have to work twice as hard to soften and mix the young mud with the topsoil. Only then can plants absorb nutrients from the young mud.

Now looking at the sticky layer of mud in Mr. Mien’s rake, I know that this year’s flood season has left a layer of “golden soil” for farmers, but to have a golden season for trees and leaves, for this year’s Tet flower crop, farmers still have to work hard. Mr. Mien said that since his wife got back pain, she no longer goes to work in the fields with him, he is alone in the fields, not only does not have enough strength, but also feels lonely, so this year’s Tet flower crop he has reduced, only planting half as much as last year.

Have you ever held a handful of soil in your hand after the flood season, the soft grains of soil filled with mud sticking to your hands and fingernails. Those grains of soil also stuck to your toes as you walked among the Tet flower fields, cool and gentle. I was like that in the Tet flower fields of Mr. Mien and Ms. Hoa, I used to sit on the soft grass, drink a cup of green tea that was bitter and sweet on the tip of my tongue, watch the flower fields, inhale deeply the fragrance of the Tet flower season and look at Ms. Hoa, her hands still stained with mud, pouring a cup of tea and giving it to her husband with a warm, loving, understanding and sharing look. That Tet flower afternoon, my heart also blossomed in front of the love between husband and wife of my cousin whom I deeply respect.

After a flood season has passed, each person will record in their heart a milestone of the flood, such as the mud mark left on the house wall, remembering the flood milestone of each year or like on the wooden pillar of an old house is a line marking the height of a boy after each year.

I am not a boy, but I also have mud marks carved on the wooden pillars of my house, always a pair of parallel carvings - one high, one low - because those were the carvings of my brother, who always loved his youngest sister: "I carved them to see how tall you are compared to me after a year", my brother often said as he pressed my head close to the pillar, made a mark and drew a short line on it. Those carvings on the wood were also imprinted with the mud marks of several flood seasons.

Therefore, the layers of mud during flood season, in my understanding, are not only the alluvial nutrients of the land but also memories that every flood season, when I remember them, I know how to love the land, love the people, and love the trees and fruits around me.

Xuan An

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/dau-bun-non-160408.html