Passing through summer

I hastily picked up the fallen phoenix flower petal, my heart suddenly filled with nostalgia, and I couldn't remember how many times I had passed through the season when the phoenix flowers bloomed. I remembered those summers of the past, when the phoenix flower branches began to turn crimson in the schoolyard, my heart would flutter, because when summer came, I would go back to my grandparents' village, and join my older siblings in wading in the fields, searching for shrimp and catching fish.

• A rewarding summer - Learning and playing at the same time.
• Meaningful summer
• A rewarding and safe summer

My maternal grandparents' hometown is a riverside area with two distinct seasons: rainy and dry. The river water's salinity fluctuates with the seasons. The people here make their living by following the water flow; in the rainy season, they grow rice and raise freshwater prawns and fish, while in the dry season, they raise tiger prawns and sea crabs. From there, fish and shrimp follow the water into the canals, ditches, and rice paddies, providing a source of livelihood for the people and a special gift from the riverside region to us children when summer arrives.

Draining the canal to catch fish.

Every early summer, without any prior arrangement, my cousins, my uncle Tư's children, would eagerly await my return. As soon as I arrived home and greeted my grandmother, Bo, Tý, and Linh would lead me to the fields to set up fishing traps. Bo had already prepared some old reeds, a few meters of nylon line, and a bundle of hooks; the fishing rods for quick fishing were also ready. The bait consisted of the small shrimp we'd gathered from the canal under the scorching sun.

While waiting for the fish to bite, the guys also waded into the canal to search for prawns. The prawns brandished their large, green claws menacingly, their tails snapping, but they never escaped our grasp. We were all overjoyed, shouting with excitement that echoed throughout the village.

After spending the whole day under the scorching sun and then drenched in rain in the fields, my brothers and I finally caught a haul of snakehead fish and prawns . We brought the larger fish home for Grandma to cook for dinner, while the medium-sized ones and prawns we gathered in the backyard to find straw to grill. Each of us had a task: some chopped down trees to skewer the fish, others carried straw, and some went to find fire to light...

He's gathering straw to prepare for grilling prawns.

Shrimp cook faster than fish, so we split into groups to grill them. Once the straw was charred, the shrimp turned bright red. Using reeds, we carefully removed them from the still-hot straw and placed them on banana leaves. The sweetness of the shrimp meat, the richness of the roe, and the spicy chili salt, combined with the fragrant aroma, created an incredibly appealing dish.

While waiting for the fish to cook, my brothers and I played hide-and-seek on the haystack, our arguments and laughter echoing through the countryside.

Bo took a thumb-sized bamboo stick, skewered the plump snakehead fish from mouth to tail, stuck it into the ground, and covered it with straw. The straw caught fire and burned brightly. While waiting for the fish to cook, my brothers and I played hide-and-seek in the straw pile. Ty was in charge of tending the fire, adding more straw every now and then. When the straw burned out, it revealed the fish, upside down, their bodies blackened and emitting a delicious aroma.

After the fish was thoroughly cooked, Mr. Tý took some straw and gently scraped off the burnt parts. He then placed the fish on a banana leaf, splitting it open along the spine from head to tail to reveal the white, steaming, fragrant flesh. The whole group stopped playing, crowded around, and reached in to grab and break off pieces. The fish meat was incredibly sweet, and dipping it into a bowl of spicy chili salt made everyone gasp for air. Their laughter echoed, a memory that will forever remain in the childhood of these children from the riverside region, their bodies drenched, but their smiles still warm and comforting like burning straw.

Fragrant and sweet grilled snakehead fish cooked over straw.

August has passed, September has arrived, the cicadas are no longer chirping in the foliage, the old flame tree in front of the house is full of new leaves, summer is just passing by, but beautiful memories remain, stirring feelings of nostalgia and longing whenever they are recalled. The children have also put aside their days of working under the sun and rain with their friends in the fields, their clear eyes still filled with regret.

Bao Han

Source: https://baocamau.vn/di-qua-mua-he-a34206.html