Walking through childhood memories in the countryside

I remember the memories of my own childhood as a child living with my family in a rural area. Where I have a lot of memories with friends and children in the village, so when I go home to visit my family this time, there will be a bit of reminiscence needed. Near my house there is a small river where I and my children used to go to swim in the river on hot summer days. Now the children no longer go there to bathe in the river because life is more modern and they have many entertainments with modern technology. We didn't have as many electronic devices back then as we do today, and the relationship between the people in the village was very close. There is a small path along the fields about 50m from my house that runs parallel to the riverbank for me to walk and reminisce about 25 years ago.

Now it has rows of banana trees on both sides quite luxuriant and encroaching weeds narrow the roadway. Before, it had only low grass and black bean trees were planted on both sides of the road. And we often choose the confluence of the river where there is a small bridge to bathe in the river, because that is the point where we can jump and do somersaults. The water flow is regulated according to the rice crop, so the flow is usually quite large and the water will be very cool. The girls do not swim in the river but often go fishing for the Kay, which is a relative of the crab, but whose legs are hairy and have better meat. That species often burrows in the strips of land close to the river's edge and feeds on the fertile alluvial impurities of the river. Today it is almost extinct or very rarely seen because people abuse pesticides for rice plants. And the amount of poison flows out into small ditches and into big rivers. There is currently no solution to these problems.

At the confluence of this river, there is still a fishing tool in the river. We call it the hoof: it consists of a net connected to a bearing that rotates in a bamboo hut. Foot pedal to pull up nets and harvest fish. It is now discontinued or little used because of poor economic efficiency and the decline of fish and shrimp species. People now set traps at the top of the ditches connected to the river. A small bamboo tool and my brother was trying to pick it up.

Next to it was a small cemetery belonging to another village by the river. They follow Buddhism, so the architecture of the tombs is quite different in carved details. There is no cross at the top but instead are dragons. It is quite spacious depending on the wealth of the descendants. People with a lot of money will have shiny marble or high-class ceramic tiles, otherwise they will just be pure cement and mortar tombs.

When I was a child, I used to pick phoenixes and peel them to eat the petals inside. Because it is young, it will have a mild acrid taste that is quite interesting. I am telling my younger brother about the memories of the children of those days with games and experiences like that. Or the blades of bear grass that we used to pick up in the grass to play a game of challenge by slapping each other until the head of the bear was cut off. It's just the little joys that the kids can find the day to have fun together but it's so happy. In those days the internet was not developed in the countryside so children often went out to the street instead of staying at home like today and those memories will be invaluable to me that will never be able to experience again. But I'm also glad to be able to walk around and reminisce about it so clearly.

Thanks.