The story of winter in the Simon steppe

Inner Mongolia Ximeng grassland is the paradise of migratory birds, every spring and summer, migratory birds migrate a variety of birds to accumulate grassland, large swans, geese, wild geese, wild ducks, gray cranes, spotted doves, sandboard chickens, etc., the small most is the Inner Mongolia lark, big lark, small lark, three eyebrows, red jaw, blue jaw and many more birds that can not be named, the early summer of the Ximeng steppe blue sky, low white clouds fluttering with the wind as if reaching out to grasp a flower, the ground green grass, a variety of unknown wildflowers swaying with the wind, Hundreds of birds in the sky are singing, and the calls are euphemistic. The air in the prairie is fresh, the sheep swim in the green grass, and the curved blisters are like shining silver belts passing through the grassland, and people are like a fairyland in it. Whenever this season comes, it is the most beautiful time of the grassland, and it is also the time when the grassland is the most spiritual, as if it is a fairy full of youthful atmosphere and beautiful and moving.

Wandering on the grassland this season is like entering a natural oxygen bar, walking on the grass from time to time to startle larks, occasionally see a bird's nest covered with hay and bird feathers underground, some of which already have a few gray bird eggs, some have a few small larks that have not yet opened their eyes to feed, and the adults on the grassland have long warned children not to pick bird eggs, not to touch the birds with their hands, because the birds are the protectors of the grasslands and are experts at eating pests, if people touch bird eggs or birds with their hands, Big birds will abandon their nests, bird eggs, small birds can not survive, so few children on the grassland will catch birds and dig bird nests during the migratory bird breeding season, larks, larks and other birds are nested and bred in the grass, there is an unknown bird specially nested in the abandoned rat hole, sometimes children dig out the mouse hole will take out the nest and small birds, sandboard chicken is in the stone cave on the stone hill to build a nest to hatch chicks, eggs are blue, only hatched out of the small sandboard chicken like a golden hair mass, with three black lines on the back There are feathers on the legs and feet running fast under the leadership of the mother chicken, the children can't catch up with the feet, there are still a few impure hares on the grassland, walking on the grassland from time to time will startle a hare to run away like a hare, even if the little rabbit who has just come out of the nest is difficult to catch up, even if caught, its temperament is also greatly uneaten or drunk, it is difficult to feed. There are also all kinds of rats on the grassland, the number of steppe jerboas is the most peculiar, they are like a miniature version of the kangaroo, running up with long hind legs to jump and run, there is a pinch of black fluffy hair on the tail, this rare rat is rarely seen, we once caught one, but unfortunately at that time did not know to protect the rare species on the spot to kill it, and then in More than ten years in Inner Mongolia have not seen this jerboa, the grassland also has foxes, marmots and wolves, the grassland scenery in spring and summer is the most charming.

The winter of the grassland is a scene of xiaoxiao, the grassland is a bare piece of endless, the sky is always gloomy and heavy overhead, the wind whistles, the tumbling grass rolls with the wind, a glance at the vast grassland is empty and desolate, lifeless and does not see living things, only the north wind of the trumpet with a screaming sound makes people shiver coldly, listen to the heartbreak, a large curved lane leads to the distance under the rut, only the telephone pole next to the highway crouches on this eagle with only a shrunken neck, giving people an infinitely depressed feeling, The winter of the grassland is cold and cruel, there are climatic records since the lowest temperature in Ximeng has reached minus forty-five degrees, the grassland livestock want to be safe in winter depends on whether the owner can reserve enough forage, if the snow blows up the white hair wind to a few meters away can not see things, people can not open their eyes by the wind and snow, breathless, then if you can not return to the house soon will be frozen outside, the grassland winter every year there are people and livestock that are frozen to death, herders call the white hair wind into a white disaster, demon wind, grassland snow disaster is also very scary, A white snow can cover the entire grassland, the deepest up to a few meters, the yurt will also be buried by the snow half, cattle, sheep and horses will also be frozen and starved to death, the Mongols say that winter is the devil's festival, in the past people on the grassland want to survive in the winter, they had to start picking and storing cattle and sheep dung, put on the ox-pulled Lele car, carry the dung basket with dung forks, with brooms, pick up a cart of cars, sweep a car, day after day in front of the yurt piled up like a hill of cow dung stacks, sheep dung mountains to complete the long winter reserve fuel, No matter how cold the weather outside is in winter, as long as the large iron stove in the yurt is filled with dry cow dung, poured a handful of black oil sheep dung eggs on fire, the stove will burn and roar, the stove and the smoke tube can burn red, the outside is cool as a knife room warm as spring, the yurt can be bare ass, the herders go out in the winter a few treasures one is Pidler, a large leather jacket sewn with eight old cotton sheepskin can be worn, can be paved, can be covered, one is a felt knot head is also called felt boots, felt boots rolled with wool will not freeze their feet no matter how cold they are. Another is a large leather hat made of sheep's tail to cover the head only to reveal a pair of eyes, and sheepskin hands are stuffy, without these few things can not go out of the winter, the first snow herders in the winter began to kill winter sheep, cattle, each family will slaughter a few sheep, cattle to make up for a frozen meat needs. When sheep are slaughtered and cattle are slaughtered, the herders start the cat winter when the meat is fed and the milk is frozen.

Although the winter of the grassland is so unpleasant to bring to the children is endless joy, after snow, ice in the army compound children began to brave the cold to go out to play snowball fights, skiing, skating, ice gag, began to play crazy mode, although the frozen nose is clear Lasa, the hands and feet are numb, but the children are still happy, the older children are even more to the harvest season, set birds, set hares, pick up birds busy with pleasure, set birds is made of horse's tail to make live buckles, with nails on a wooden board nails in a row of nail eyes, Put the bottom end of the horsetail buckle into the nail eye and roll the cotton on the wooden board with a matchstick, and when the rows of horsetail buckles are nailed to the wooden board, a bird sleeve is done, these equipment are prepared by the children before the arrival of winter, a heavy snow covers the grassland, covers the land, and flocks of birds such as larks, larks, larks, and three eyebrows fly in the sky like a cloud of dark clouds looking for places that are not covered by snow to feed. At this time, the children will swoop out and sweep out a piece of land on the grass, bury the wooden planks covered with ponytail buckles in the soil only to expose the silk buckles, sprinkle millet, mushrooms and other grains, do not wait for the children to leave, hungry birds will come all over the earth, as long as they fall to eat, they will be wrapped around their necks, and one beautiful lark will fall into the hands of the children, and the hungry larks are not afraid of people, and in the hands of the children, they will start to eat rice, and the children who have a set in the family will catch dozens of larks in each family. At home set back with the children behind the lark picking up millet that scene is like a flock of chickens grabbing food so that the children feel too happy, the captured birds are put into cages twisted with wire, the family has several cages filled with larks, it is very strange that when the lark is hungry, it is not afraid of people to dare to eat in the hands of people, and will also follow the people behind to find food to eat, but once fed, they will start to grow, fly and crash, these birds are raised by children for a winter, and spring will be released by adults. Because the wild lark is rarely chirped and sung after being caught, it is not interesting to keep it, and it will be released.

Older children began to set up a set of hares, the characteristics of the hares are to walk their own roads, find a good rabbit road, with thin wire made of live buckles wrapped around a brick, the afternoon after the snow carrying a school bag to do such a good condom in the grass to go to the next set, rabbits love to stay near the blisters of the precarious grass, rabbit footprints after the snow are easy to find, find the rabbit road The rest is the life of the next sleeve, the two sets are crossed left and right, the bricks are buried in the soil and sprinkled with snow, until the sleeve is finished, the soldiers can go home. The next morning to go looking for, everyone down and this set is a live set, the rabbit will run with the brick after being trapped, the wire buckle is also tighter and tighter until strangled, the advantage of this set is that the wire will not be broken by the rabbit, the advantage is that the rabbit will not be found in the place of the lower sleeve, it will drag the brick to run far, who finds who counts, there is no fight because of who the sleeve belongs to, everyone is accustomed to picking up the rabbit and then re-fiddling the sleeve to continue to go down, very bit of communist taste, Pick up the rabbit will not be cheerfully publicized, did not pick up will not be unhappy scolding street, because the hare too much today is what you get tomorrow may be him, everyone in the next set, the victory of the fruit of the gains and losses everyone will not care about will be tacit, my eldest brother picked up five in the morning at most, harvested the rabbit to bring home to the adult to help clean up and put it in a small iron pot to put on the stove to stew, the little friends gathered around the stove while listening to the adults tell various stories while waiting to eat rabbit meat not to mention how comfortable. Making rabbit meat also requires technology, my mother will stew beef and rabbit meat together, and when the beef is cooked rabbit meat into puree, cooking is very technical! Do you think my mother's rabbit meat can be delicious?

Picking birds, the high-voltage wires on the savannah in winter are blown by the wind and flutter with the wind, emitting a whizzing sharp whistle, do not know that this silver line is the deadly killer of all kinds of birds! Grassland winter wind, especially when the white hair wind blows, cattle, sheep and horses will be blown by the wind to run, the birds are even more blown by the tailwind, when passing the wire, many birds will be knocked down by the wire, the neck is knocked off, the wing is broken, the legs are broken, all kinds of things, have fallen around the line, and after the wind and snow, the children will form a team to pick up these various birds that have been knocked down, this business is a test of everyone's eyesight and leg strength, In a white snow who can find the birds that fall on the ground first, who will grab them first, and the adult birds who pick them up will bury them in the hot ash of the stove, and it will not take long to cook, peel off the burnt bird feathers, and the two pieces of fragrant breast meat will become the delicacy in the mouths of the children!

A few decades have passed, the fun of childhood is still deeply remembered, and today's children rarely have this experience, which is the difference of the times!