Memories of marigolds on Tet holiday

As a child, I felt the bustling atmosphere of Tet since my grandmother started to plant marigolds. Tet was sown with those marigold seeds.

Marigold - a sign of Tet

Country people also like to grow flowers and plants during Tet to create a difference between everyday life and the days of spring and Tet. So following the old tradition, the ancients planted marigolds with profound meanings while still imbued with the scent of Tet.

In front of the yard, marigolds just bloom naturally

PHOTO: NGUYEN NHAT THANH

I always remember the folk song: "Oh, no matter how far away you are/ Remember to plant marigolds on the thirteenth of October." That is the "principle" of those who cultivate marigolds. Back then, my grandmother often looked at the calendar to check the day to plant marigolds, I wonder if she was as excited about Tet as I was then.

In mid-October, she took out the seed packet that she had carefully collected since the beginning of the year. She examined it carefully and looked very tender, as if someone was taking out a souvenir to clean it from wear and tear. But that was only natural, holding the marigold seeds in her hands meant she was holding a souvenir from the past, an ancient beauty that has survived to this day through cultural inheritance.

She dug the soil, spread fertilizer, and sowed the first spring seeds. The following days were a series of days when my grandmother wore a wool coat, her hands clasped behind her back, slowly visiting every morning, when the cold winter dew embraced the sky and earth.

In that biting cold, I felt the bare branches of the old trees trembling in the bitter cold, yet the marigold buds still strongly emerged from the ground, then grew... grew, green, fresh and cool...

Chrysanthemum and the New Year

When the winter days have ended, the fence of my house is lined with two rows of marigolds standing straight like a "welcoming trellis" to welcome the spring. The scent of Tet has risen from the clusters of yellow and red flames that are gradually burning brightly in the simple, rustic flower bushes. Among the many kinds of exotic and charming flowers, marigolds are still loved by the people of my hometown, perhaps because they are as simple as the people who make friends with the plowed furrows.

Buy marigolds to decorate for Tet

PHOTO: TRAN CAO DUYEN

In front of the yard, the marigolds bloomed naturally. In the shape of that flower, I felt as if Tet was bustling, my heart was filled with a longing for the sky and the clouds to change. The scent of the good earth spread out, pungent and strong like musk, yet it lingered in my soul when I was nine or ten.

During the three days of Tet, the marigolds bloomed brilliantly as if they were on fire with spring. In the glowing sunlight, bees and butterflies also hovered around the flower beds as if attracted by the attraction of this herbaceous plant. When the neighbors came to wish them a Happy New Year, they all praised my grandmother for her skill in growing flowers. Because the marigolds bloomed evenly, each flower was full as if the Tet sap had overflowed and burst out on each thin, tiny petal as if attached to the flower bush.

There were people who asked her to go to the Central Highlands to share some seeds with them, so that at the end of the year they could plant beautiful, satisfactory flower trellises to celebrate Tet. She smiled warmly as if to express her agreement and appreciation for the marigolds that she had sown and cared for so diligently.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ky-uc-bong-van-tho-ngay-tet-185250128113955765.htm