Countryside River - A piece of memory in the Western region
As a person born and raised in the Southwest region, although life is miserable and lacking, at meals here there are always braised fish dishes, fish soup,... to satisfy the children's hearts of the West. My mother said: "Our hometown is full of fish and shrimp, and river fish are a product of nature given to people in river areas, so in the Southern lullaby there is a saying: Go to the river to eat fish, go to the fields to eat crabs!" ” Now, no matter how long we have been apart, in the memories of our children far away from home, we still vividly remember the trips to drag nets to catch fish in the river... The water was low, and the riverside stump of cork trees were bare roots. To catch big fish, Westerners have to use a large and long net, so it takes at least 4-5 people to pull it. The feeling when right at the first catch, the catfish and red tilapia jump around in the net is so excited and satisfied!
According to the experience of people in river areas, to catch a lot of fish in the net, you have to watch the water less than the tenth day of the lunar month, the fish will move a lot to look for food. Fish often swim against the current, so people just pull the net downstream, drive the fish into the net and choose an empty bank to cover it. The two ends of the net are divided gradually until all the fish are caught. However, pulling nets on rivers is usually only effective during the low water season, which is the dry season in the West.
If calculated by water level, the Mekong Delta has two distinct seasons: dry season and high water season. In the dry season, the water flow on main rivers such as the Tien River and Hau River is about 6,000 cubic meters per second, and in the high water season, it is up to 120,000 cubic meters per second. Therefore, these rivers bring people in the Western River region a lot of shrimp and fish, especially during the flood season. The period from July to October of the lunar calendar every year is the most exciting river fishing season, fishermen use many unique river fishing methods such as pushing nets, catching wind, fishing lines,... during that, pushing the net is considered a unique and effective way to catch river fish. A huge net is spread by two long wooden frames, the pillar is fixed to the boat's body and a wooden bar as long as a ladder is used for people to climb to the top and use their body weight to lift the net out of water surface. This unique fishing method attracts many curious people standing by the river to watch.
Speaking of the countryside river, in addition to the image of a meal with fish dishes braised in copper, sour snakehead fish soup,... children in the West also immediately think of the childhood rendezvous of children huddled in groups of five or seven holding banana peels to learn to swim, those who don't know how to swim will let dragonflies bite their navels... this is a place full of laughter and fun in the cool afternoons. The countryside river is always gentle, quiet, diligent and protective - is the childhood watershed of Western children.
For Westerners, the countryside river is also a dear image associated with childhood years, full of memories when mentioned. In the West, we will see the image of a water bridge spanning in front of country's river. The beautiful small wharf serves all laundry and dishwashing activities and is where children in the village gather to bathe in the river.
Every time I return to my hometown, in the afternoon, sitting by the riverbank and looking through the row of nipa palm leaves and Ca Na tree leaves in front of the wharf, I suddenly catch a glimpse of the hard-working life of “my grandparents”, seeing my age of laborious poem and realized the great meaning of the saying that we often call the place "birthplace"... Then the countryside river became a living memory in the hearts of every Westerner, not especially children.