Text/Zhang Tianke
Every year in May, the season of acacia flowers is in full bloom. The refreshing wind, mixed with the delicate aroma wafting in, is intoxicating. The goose-white flowers are surrounded by green locust leaves, and the clusters and strings are very attractive, dotted among the dense green leaves. The locust flowers hang gently among the branches, some arbitrarily spread the calyx, some shyly half open, some are incomprehensibly embraced, and some are like the crescent moon on the third night of the first year... The cluster of snow-white flowers bloomed on the branches, pressing the branches slightly drooping, and it was like bamboo shoots breaking out of the earth, holding its head high, showing its style, swaying in the breeze.
Every year the acacia flowers are fragrant, I always unconsciously think of my hometown and think of the scene of picking locust flowers in my childhood. In the memory of my hometown every May, the ditches and ridges, the fields, the front and back of the village, the banks of the river canal, everywhere is a piece of white flowers, like fog, falling snow, a gust of wind blowing, the aroma is pervasive.
The leaves of the locust tree are still small, but the flowers are already blooming. It is not like those delicate flowers and plants, stingily only one or two flowers, and even less like elm money, only green is strange. Even its torso is not too thick, and the branches are not so fierce, but its flowers make you marvel, and the branches bloom warmly between the branches, and the branches are full of branches. Its flowers are not a single one, and clumps, clusters, like a plump woman, completely attract your eyes.
If at this time you think of pear blossoms, the snow is just white and lifeless; if you think of begonias at this time, the charm is only a momentary pleasure, even pitiful to the point of not even a hint of fragrance. It's not like a locust flower, but the trees of bees alone will let you know that it's different. If you are a person who likes sweets, only locust nectar can be counted as the best of the hundred.
However, I am not obsessed with its honey, but with the snack made by its flowers, locust flower knots. The flowers of the locust flowers, with flour, steamed for about 20 minutes, after the pot, take advantage of the heat, add salt, monosodium glutamate, and then mash some fresh garlic paste, stir it with hot oil, and a meal can come out of the pot. It's not all about color and flavor, but if you want to talk about taste, it's amazing. Pure natural taste, the fragrance of flowers, the sweetness of pollen, plus the glutinous softness of flour, fragrant, eat in the mouth, sweet silk delicate. Even if you are an anorexia person, you will suddenly have a big appetite, I think, two or three bowls is already a small meaning.
I remember when I was a child, my family was poor, the population was large, the grain of the production team was small, and my sisters and brothers were 6 people who were old enough to grow up, even if I picked all kinds of wild vegetables from the fields, my mother had to do everything possible to let the whole family have food. Therefore, every year, I always look forward to the blooming of locust flowers, and when the locust flowers bloom, you can eat locust flower stewed rice.
Whenever the acacia flowers are fragrant, picking acacia flowers has become a scenery in the countryside. My friends and I in the village are no exception. After school, we burrowed into the locust forest like a wind, scattered and hidden in the shade of the locust. The leaves of the locust tree are oval,thin, translucent green in the sun. We held the locust flowers and filled our mouths. After eating too much, the mouth is sweet and greasy, and I can still remember the taste of raw locust flowers.
The picked locust flowers are taken home, cleaned, and washed repeatedly with water. Cover it with boiling hot water, remove it with cool water, and dry it with your hands. Then the mother mixed the newly ground yellow corn flour and spread it on the basket to steam. The flames at the mouth of the stove licked the pot table, and after a while, the aroma was wafting, and I shouted at my mother to open the pot quickly.
The stewed rice from the pot doesn't look good, but it tastes delicious. My mother mixed garlic paste, vinegar and other spices, and brought out spicy seeds that could only be eaten when guests came. My mother copied a large bowl for me, and I ate it, the aroma of locust flowers and the spiciness of the spicy seeds, and I was sweating profusely and full of aftertaste. Look at the sweetness of our brothers and sisters eating, my mother lifted the corners of her clothes, and her eyes were wet...
After many years, the years have changed, and the memories of decades have been lost, but the experience of picking locust flowers at that time is timeless. Especially whenever the acacia flowers are fragrant, the thick aroma in the air will always evoke that memory, just like a touch of orange warmth, slowly flowing through the heart.
Now, sniffing the locust flowers outside the window, in the eyes full of tears, I seem to see a child, with an intoxicated gaze, coming from the white locust flowers. It is a kind of imprint of the years, a memory of the depths of the soul, which has given me the courage to be a man, the strength to rise, and the encouragement to me, no matter how difficult the years are, to work hard and move forward.
It is like water flowing for years, and the years are dusty. Picking locust flowers and eating locust flower stew rice is already a yellowing calendar in memory. Whenever I remember it, there is always a trace of pity and nostalgia in my heart.
(Image from the Internet)
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