The beginning of winter also means that Hue is in the cold rainy season. Storms and floods are still ahead, but every day that is clear is a happy day. For me, a rainy day also contains a whole rainy season. Perhaps it should start with a rainy day when I was sixteen years old, a long time ago.

In Hue in the winter, the sky is always gray, even if it doesn't rain, it's gloomy and dark. Some days the fog is thick, the streets are still, only the vendors wake up early, opening their shops one after another, and the fire in the noodle shops along the roadside makes the street strangely warm. There are days when we pass Truong Tien Bridge in the white mist, the silver-painted iron bars give the feeling of walking on the bridge, otherwise we would think we are walking in a sea of ​​clouds. Back then, the two rows of trees on Le Loi Street, the leaves above seemed to touch each other to form a green arch, when we got closer we saw that the leaves did not touch each other. The further we went, the wider the road seemed to be like a miracle. Overhead, in the winter of Hue, the low clouds were very close.

On cold days in Hue, our friends warmed each other with conversations on the way to school; sometimes with the warmth of sweet potatoes and cassava wrapped in banana leaves; sometimes in the afternoon, a friend ran through the pouring rain to bring a good book to lend us. We often passed around worn-out books, read them all night, and then talked about them together on the way to school the next morning.

Winter in Hue also has sunny days. The sun dries the dampness, brightens everything and is as beautiful as our youth. The rainy season in this land has so many memories, is that what you mean? When saying goodbye to each other to hang up the phone, you said: "I love Hue in winter, I love the rainy and flooded seasons, I love the people of Hue who live calmly, are hard-working, persistent, patient and understand the laws of heaven and life, never complaining about nature. People who live like that find life very easy!"

So we remember our time like that. Remember the times of cycling in the drizzling rain, passing the Imperial City, passing the road with yellow tamarind leaves falling on the road, passing the Stone Dam with the cool wind on our cheeks, penetrating our hair, penetrating our thin woolen sweaters. Remember the beginning of winter, when Hue mothers checked the jars of rice, dried sweet potatoes, dried cassava, fish sauce, and shrimp paste to prepare for the cold winter days. Remember the winter when the cold winds blew on the streets, you gave your warm sweater to your classmate. Your mother knew about it, but said nothing because she was also taking away her children's sweaters to give to the young patients where she worked...

This winter in Hue, I believe, will pass like any other winter before. Then the trees, fruits, and flowers will bloom to welcome the new spring. The recovery will help dry the tears, soothe the anxious gazes of sadness, loss, grief, and hardship of the rainy season in this land. Life continues like that, with both human efforts and the miracle of nature. I look at the calendar announcing the beginning of winter, see the warm fire of the past year and the sparkling eyes of my friend, mischievous black, clear and warm, my heart is also warmed. That is enough for a winter day, a winter and many winters to come in my hometown Hue.

Xuan An

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/mot-ngay-cho-ca-mua-dong-160146.html