The peach tree in my hometown

The peach blossoms bloom in March. When I see the colorful, brilliant and intoxicating peach blossoms on the trees, I think of my hometown and the peach trees beside the old houses in my hometown.

There are several old adobe houses in Dawantang, my hometown. In my memory, there are many quotations written on the outer wall of the old house. It was the most popular way of publicity in the 1960s and 1970s. Writing classic quotations on the wall allowed Lao Yum to see it every day and still remember it. Deep, photographic memory. Even children like us who read the classic quotations on the wall every day were able to recite them and still remember them today.

There are many peach trees in Dawantang. Some peach trees grow beside the stone bank, and some grow outside the cow and pig pen houses. Wherever a tree can grow next to the old house in my hometown, there will be a peach tree. The peach tree has become a unique scenery in Dawantang. Whenever the peach blossoms are in full bloom, the fragrance of peach blossoms is everywhere in Dawantang. The peach blossoms fill the old house, as if you have entered a paradise. The peach tree does not need to be planted or cultivated. It grows and dies on its own, and its vitality is particularly strong.

I remember when I was young, there were not many peach trees in Dawantang at first. It was my grandfather who brought some peaches back from abroad. After we finished eating the peaches, we buried the peach cores in the soil beside the old house. inside. At the beginning of the next spring, several seedlings grew out of those peach pits buried in the soil. Moistened by the spring breeze and rain, the seedlings slowly grew into small peach trees as tall as a person. A year later, the peach trees next to the old house grew taller and taller. In March, the peach trees bloomed. This was the first time Dawantang saw the peach trees blooming. The children were very happy. They picked the peach blossoms to play with from time to time. The peach tree blossomed and bore fruit, and several small peach trees grew. We picked them and ate them before they were ripe. The small peach trees were bitter and not tasty at all.

The peach trees beside the old house in my hometown grew bigger and taller. After a few years, they grew into several large peach trees with thick main stems and lush branches and leaves. The tree was full of peach blossoms and fruits. We picked the peaches and ate them. He casually threw the peach stones to the edge of the stone bank in Dawantang, to the outside of the cattle pen house, to the outside of the pig pen house, and to the side of the vegetable soil. Let them sprout and take root there and grow into peach trees. Naturally growing peach trees do not require fertilization, pruning, or cultivation. As long as there is sunshine and rain, and as long as there is a piece of land that belongs to them, they will take root and grow tenaciously, growing green leaves and blooming peach blossoms in spring. In summer, peaches are hanging all over the branches, tempting our taste buds.

The living environment of peach trees growing beside stone ridges is worse and more difficult than that of peach trees growing beside housing yards and ridges. However, as long as the peach core thrown into the stone crevice sprouts and takes root, as long as there is soil in the stone crevice, the peach will seize the opportunity and extend its roots into the stone crevice tenaciously. The peach tree growing up beside the stone bank has its roots tightly embedded in the cracks in the stone. The roots of the peach tree fill the cracks in the stone and are bulging like ancient tree bark. They are exposed to wind, sun and thunder. Traces left by lightning. The Mao Tiao tree is not afraid of hardships and will grow into a big tree under any difficult conditions, full of peach blossoms and peaches.

Although the peaches are not very tasty and have a sour taste, in an era when there are not many choices of fruits, the peaches are still the favorite of children. They are much more delicious than the wild fruits in the mountains. . The peach trees beside the old house grew taller and taller, and gradually reached the height of the old house. When spring came, the peach blossoms bloomed on the branches. When the children couldn't pick the peach blossoms from the trees, they used bamboo poles to knock them off. The peach blossoms fell down on the peach trees like falling blossoms. It fell on the children's heads, bodies, and all over the body. The children laughed happily and played happily under the peach tree. A group of little sparrows flew from the sky, chattering and landed on the peach tree next to the old house, shaking off the peach blossoms, and enjoying the blooming peach blossoms with the children.

The big yellow dog in Dawantang was not idle either. It ran out of the old house and came under the peach tree to smell the peach blossoms on the ground and smell the fragrance of the peach blossoms. Then, he wagged his tail and barked at the sparrows on the branches, frightening the group of happy little sparrows away. The chirping little sparrow flew away, and there was a fluttering sound in the sky. The magpies were not willing to be left alone. They flew over from the tall sycamore trees and landed on the peach trees beside the old house, shaking off the peach blossoms. The big yellow dogs on the ground drove away the small sparrows, but they could not drive away the noisy magpies. . Magpies climbed on the branches, peach blossoms welcomed the guests, and after a few barks, the big yellow dog left alone.

The chicks in Dawantang, led by the old hen, squeaked to the peach tree. They were looking for food on the ground full of peach blossoms.

The old hen crows, pecks open the peach blossoms, pecks open the soil under the peach blossoms, and looks for small earthworms and small insects in the soil. That is the delicacy of the chickens. The ground covered with peach blossoms hides the delicacy of the chickens. They do not forget the peach tree next to the old house.

As spring passes and autumn comes, there are more and more peach trees in Dawantang, my hometown. They are planted beside the house yard, in the courtyard, beside the ridge and at the foot of the mountain. The small mountain village is like a paradise. Every spring, the old house is covered with peach blossoms and hidden deep in the peach blossoms. The peach blossoms are in full bloom, colorful and beautiful. Later, I left my hometown and the peach tree beside my old house. Over the past few decades, I have rarely gone back to my hometown, and I have rarely visited the peach trees next to my old house. In March this year, when the peach blossoms were in full bloom, I took the time to return to my hometown and the Dawantang Hall of my childhood.

Dawantang is still there, but the old house with a history of more than a hundred years collapsed in the wind and rain, leaving only ruins. Of those peach trees planted when I was a child, after decades of wind and rain, only one old peach tree remained. The bark of the old peach tree is like a callus, rough and cracked, the trunk is aging and the branches are sparse. There is no longer the lush foliage and blooming flowers that it once had.

The spring breeze and spring rain awakened the youthful dream of the old peach tree, and sparse peach blossoms bloomed on the old branches. Pink peach blossoms bloom on the old trees, as if to show the tenacity of life to spring. The old trees are blooming, symbolizing the endless life. The peach tree beside the old house in my hometown is old, and we are also old. Time flies, but time never grows old.

The peach blossoms bloom in March. The peach tree beside the old house in my hometown has rooted its roots deep into the years, holding on to a belief and a piece of land, and will not move even a step until it is old. Does the peach tree look like an old mother, standing by the old house and looking forward to the return of her children? The peach tree beside the old house in my hometown is blooming with pink peach blossoms. The brilliant peach blossoms bloom in childhood dreams and bloom in the Dawantang in my hometown, which makes people recall.