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| Officers of Ha Chau Dike Management Department check the quality of materials for dike protection work. Photo: TL |
Ha Chau is also famous nationwide for its black plum. Ha Chau plum has a special rich, fragrant, and fatty taste compared to plums in other regions. From black plums, people here prepare many unique dishes such as sticky rice with plums, plums stewed with meat, especially black plum salad - a plum salad mixed with meat and spices, with a unique and unforgettable flavor. As for me, I still remember a night spent in Ha Chau. Several decades have passed, "that person" and I are old, but the memories are still fresh in my mind.
That day, I, a reporter for the provincial newspaper, was sent to write about flood and storm prevention on the dikes along the Cau River. The Ha Chau dike is a level III dike, more than 16km long. This dike protects the right bank of the Cau River, including the communes of Ha Chau, Nga My, Uc Ky, Diem Thuy in Phu Binh district and Tien Phong commune in Pho Yen. The total area protected by the dike is about 4,201ha of land and about 34,000 people.
Being enthusiastic and fond of “engaging” with reality, I “wandered” to survey the dike, watching the dark green rice fields and listening to the whispering sound of the waves. The scene of “ the rustling rice waves on this side/the murmuring river on this side ” fascinated me. As the sky darkened, I decided to stay overnight in Ha Chau to fully enjoy a day in the peaceful countryside. But where to stay? I drove slowly on the dike and did not know where to stop. Suddenly, in the distance, I saw a row of level-four houses with a sign saying “Ha Chau Dike Guard Station”. As if prompted, I turned in and met a woman about ten years older than me. She said her name was Thom, and she was in charge of guarding the Ha Chau dike. Thom had long hair, a voice as soft as the morning dew, gentle eyes and calloused hands tanned by the sun and wind. After listening to my explanation, she happily invited me to stay, a simple invitation, imbued with the love of the countryside.
That night, dinner by the fireside had a plate of golden omelettes and a plate of stir-fried green squash, and a pot of fragrant country rice. The chickens she raised, the vegetables she grew, the rice she planted, to me it was an unusually delicious meal. We had just met, but she opened her heart to tell me about the sleepless nights during flood season like this time, about the chickens laying eggs on the wrong day, about the vegetable beds that had just taken root, and about her life tied to the dike, to the fields on one side and the Cau River on the other, for decades now.
Late at night, the dike watchtower was dimly lit by the quiet moonlight. I lay listening to the whispering wind and the distant crowing of roosters. Outside, Ms. Thom stood looking at the river. Her figure was slender, her long hair loose, silent. I walked out into the yard, watching the first quarter moon rising in the sky, and a few lines of poetry suddenly came to me: The fragile moon of wild grass/ Rising in the dark purple sky/ Flowers blooming lightly like a dream/ Mist covering wet eyelashes … Returning to the editorial office, I completed the poem “Ha Chau Night” along with an article on flood prevention work at key dikes, which was highly appreciated by readers.
Time flies, every time someone mentions Phu Binh, I immediately think of Ha Chau. The image of a long-haired woman standing on the dike, as quiet as the moon, as warm as a fire in the middle of the night is engraved in my memory. Ha Chau to me is not only a rice-growing countryside by the river, but also a place where I once received a meal full of humanity, had an unforgettable night under the roof of the dike guard station and had a woman named Thom, who went through many flood seasons with the silent guard station.
Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202504/ha-chau-mot-mien-thuong-nho-9eb047a/
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