April is coming - Quang Binh Electronic Newspaper

(QBĐT) - When spring has just ended, summer has gently and hesitantly stepped onto the threshold of April. The sun is very clear and the wind is endless, the season comes so gently that it makes people feel like everything is just beginning. The sun begins, the wind begins and the season begins, the most brilliant and fresh of the four seasons. April welcomes summer!

April comes with the nostalgia of spring, somewhere there are still occasional light drizzles that then disappear completely. The sky is very clear and the sun is also very clear, the April sun is like a cheerful glass light dancing on the branches, the leaves. Through the canopy of the xoan trees to make small squares with many funny shapes on the ground. It seems that, after the cold winter and the drizzling spring rain, the sun has now returned to its right season. Because of that, the sun is like a mischievous child running around the garden, coloring the banana leaves, falling down on the vegetable beds and spreading a dreamy, peaceful color on the village fields.

My mother used to say that it was a kind of young sunshine, not yellow enough, not harsh enough. Not hot enough to urge anyone to walk quickly or stop to take shelter under a tree or a tea shop. Because April is just the beginning of the sunshine! Almost no longer regretting the past season, April calls for winds carrying a bit of heat signaling summer. The wind gently plays in the swaying leaves of the xoan trees, hovers over the gently rustling bamboo tops, the wind of the new season is vast and vast!

The garden is dotted with purple lilac flowers, on the grapefruit branches, the flowers have fallen all their petals and bare calyxes, dreaming of the distant August days with fresh, golden grapefruits! April paints the bougainvillea trellis a corner of the sky in bright red and offers the season a very special flower, the lily. Those flowers are gently beautiful in their pure white color, exuding a light, lingering fragrance as if wanting to tell their own story of faithful love. During the exciting days of my youth, when I went to the city to study, looking at the bicycles loaded with lilies slowly drifting on the street, I fell in love with the whole month of April.

The banyan tree at the village entrance has used up all its spring sap to spread its lush, fresh green leaves to welcome summer. Each large, wide leaf intertwines into layers, creating a giant umbrella to shade many people during the harsh summer days and even when there are sudden thunderstorms. However, the row of cajuput trees is in the period of changing leaves, the old coat is loosely hanging down on the April afternoons with scattered yellow leaves. The bare branches still stretch high, spreading out to catch the sunlight and nurture the young, lush buds in the distance. The carpet of cajuput leaves spread underfoot evokes the restlessness and wistfulness of memories of the old school.

I still remember the image of when I was still in school, April came, the school yard was covered with fallen leaves. Every morning, we students would bend down to sweep the leaves of the Indian laurel tree into piles. However, in the afternoon, there was a vast carpet of leaves waiting. The students whispered to each other that April was so long, the Indian laurel tree leaves kept falling. For me, the old April days still linger in my mind, the series of days of studying and studying, the burden of homework; the vague worry about the transition exams, the sadness and disappointment when thinking about the moment of parting with friends and teachers. Those thoughts, those worries and imaginations unintentionally made the April days seem more profound!

For farmers, April is the month of harvest, full of worries. Parents these days are looking out and about, their hearts are out in the fields. The rice is in the stage of filling the seeds, and prosperity or shortage also depends on the days of April. The plump, golden rice stalks are a great reward, a recognition of the hard work of sowing, caring, and worrying. Therefore, these days farmers are busy and nervous preparing everything for the harvest.

As usual, at this time, I saw my mother rushing to buy baskets, shoulder poles, some rattan bundles and rice bins to dry over the kitchen smoke. When they turned a light brown color, it was time to harvest, so I took them out and used them firmly. The smell of bamboo mixed with the smell of kitchen smoke on the shoulder poles and rice bins was a strong, pungent smell, a smell that was hard to name but always lingered in my mind during those old April days.

My father went to work as a blacksmith, repairing the tricycle, and patching up the cracks in the small yard in time for the rice drying season. I was afraid of sudden thunderstorms when the season began, so for farmers, even in the lean season, no matter how poor they were, they had to prepare everything so that when the season began, the rice grains would be dry and intact. April quietly came, filled with worries, thoughts, and the anxious waiting of my parents!

At the end of April, the sun was already harsh and yellow, the first flowers were blooming on the old royal poinciana trees. The village fields were woven with warm colors, summer had come bustling with the chirping of cicadas. April was a gentle stepping stone for the brilliant season. Despite many worries, concerns, and busy thoughts, April is always a stirring low note in my memory.

Doan Thi Thu Huong

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/van-hoa/202504/thang-tu-ve-2225453/