Enjoy the red locust flowers in the mountains
Author | Feng Enchang
In recent years, in the early summer, my family's small tour group, driven by my son, went to the Dayu Mountain in the northern foothills of Yishan Mountain to watch the golden cabbage flowers. In April this year, we had a unique look at the red locust flowers on the side of the winding mountain road in Shilishan Township. Between the long mountain gorges, there is a golden chessboard covered with square cabbage flowers, and the valley bank is the silver snow tumbling locust flowers that cannot be seen, and the famous Phoenix Valley Locust Flower Scenic Spot in the county is here. Yujian cement roadside, from the southeast of Dayu Village north road next to the west, the ornamental trees planted on both sides of the road, are all Jiangnan locust, also known as safflower acacia (red locust flower), it is the peak of flowering, all the way red butterflies fly beautiful scenery, thick flower fragrance drunk through the lungs, the car line is like crossing in the long rainbow, making people feel that entering the fairy realm, there is no charm of life.
In the deep mountains of the aura, driving in the valley filled with golden cabbage flowers, we admired through the car window, a spike of thick red locust flowers blooming, listening to the little bees in the flowers in a hurry to collect honey, Yang sprinkled out of the crisp little song, really enough to make people elegant, and the mountain wind blowing the flower branches, we can reach out and pick a small branch, pinch in the hand on the end of the nose, smell the incense deeply, everyone seems a little obsessed. After turning a few road bends, the car reached the place of "Luzhong Wuyuan" at the entrance of the scenic spot, and we got off the bus and took a closer look. Here, on the side of the deep valley river, the red locust flowers bloom brightly and dazzlingly, the car side stretches out the lively and fresh flower spikes, the petals are spread round, like the red butterflies that are fanning their wings, tempting the son, daughter, nephew, together take out the mobile phone, get out of the car to aim at the flower branches, flower spikes, flowers, click and click the sound of snapping. The young nephew patted for a while, picking a red locust flower with water droplets, and was about to fill it in his mouth to taste fresh, I rushed to him in three steps and two steps, snatched the flower in his hand, and told him: "The red locust flower from the root, the skin to the leaves, the flowers, and even the pods of the knot, are poisonous and cannot be eaten, and can only enjoy the honey brewed by the bees." White locust flowers are a delicious and good food, which is good for health when eaten. "I also told him that the locust flowers are divided into two categories, white locust flowers can be eaten, choose white and fat flower spikes to wash clean, make porridge, fry locust flower cakes to eat, clean and elegant, anti-inflammatory and anti-fire after eating, moisturize the intestines, beautify the skin, and have many benefits to the body." The daughter said, "Don't be hungry, let's pick some white locust flowers, go home and fry eggs for you to taste!" The nephew nodded repeatedly, relieved to have increased his knowledge.
Because I am engaged in literary creation, I have studied the locust flowers in Yimeng Mountain Township, and I have life and knowledge in this area. I have been to the Locust Valley on Yishan Mountain many times, carefully watched and experienced the beauty of white locust flowers, in 1987 with the Locust Valley as the background, I wrote an essay "The Fragrance of Locust Flowers", which was published in the supplement of the Shanghai Wen Wei Po PEN, and also tasted the locust flower feast at the poet's home, with the extension of the years, I have written more than a dozen acacia flower essays continuously. Some have won literary prizes in the province. There was originally no variety of red locust flowers in the county, that is, in the 1970s, the comrades of the county forestry bureau went to Jiangnan, found the Jiangnan locust blossoming safflower, picked to pick up the buds, with the white-flowered locust as the rootstock, inserted a certain height of bark, wrapped with plastic rope, put on a plastic bag to prevent water evaporation, after a period of germination, open the bag to let it flourish after survival, and then there was a flower that year earlier, and people were delighted after watching. I remember that in the 1980s, many mountains in the county, river banks, roads, villages, in April there are red locust flowers blooming, someone made a lot of red locust flower bonsai, sold to favorite units and people, placed in small courtyards, living rooms, to the hometown of the landscape, home, add unlimited novelty and charm.
On our way back from viewing the flowers, we met a group of elderly people in their fifties and sixties, who were watering and arranging the flower beds under the red locust tree, and I stopped the car and walked over to them briefly. These old people are the professional team nursing the red locust flowers, and it is they who graft the red locust with the acacia, and some point to me that there were two silver landscapes on both sides of the road, and now they have become two long rainbows, making the mountain villages here more gorgeous and beautiful. On the way back to the city, these few old people in the mountains and villages who were dusty and dusty, on the poetic screen in my heart, set up a reverent and tall image, and they were the real red locust flowers that dressed up the mountains and rivers of the motherland.
Feng Enchang was born in 1937 in Linqu, Shandong. He once served as the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the county party committee and the chairman of the Literary Association, a member of the Chinese Writers Association, a member of the Chinese Folk Artists Association, a director of the Shandong Prose Literature Association, a standing director of the China Vernacular Poets Association, a famous poet and writer of the National Pastoral School, a representative of the "Rural Small Courtyard School", and was known as the god of Oriental poetry. His works have won many awards at home and abroad, and have won the honorary title of lifetime achievement of the highest award of folk literature in the Asia-Pacific region, "Golden Flying Eagle Award", and have been named the title of world cultural celebrity and national first-class artist, the inheritor of the legend of Feng Weimin, and has published 23 literary monographs, "Sugar Gourd" and "Hometown Cicada Song", which have been selected to read textbooks in full-time middle schools nationwide.