●Gou Hongmei
I read "The Rain of Osmanthus Flowers" written by Qijun, a famous Taiwanese essayist, at an early age, and it was at that time that I developed a special affection for osmanthus flowers. When it comes to osmanthus, there is no other more affectionate name for the flower.
There are a few in the backyard of my hometown, but most of them are golden laurel. Every year in August, full of laurel trees are full of golden and silver sparkling flowers, the whole backyard will immediately float in the fragrance of laurel. The fragrance of osmanthus in the garden will also roam out of the corner building, over the fence, floating all over the alley, and finally and the alley of the green slate cracks softly fused together, so that you can not see any traces of her, you can only stay, quietly looking for her silhouette.
Mother especially loved these golden laurels, in order to facilitate memory, mother gave the laurel trees with interesting names. The cinnamon tree under the corner of the east wall because it is the oldest tree, and the flowers are also the largest, flower time is also longer, so my mother called her "golden branch". The osmanthus tree by the west wall was the only silver osmanthus in the whole backyard, so it was especially favored by my grandmother, and my mother liked to call her "Beauty". The golden laurel by the main entrance was so tall and straight that its branches and leaves covered the sky above the front yard door, leaving only a few small gaps, and we could only squint through them to peek at the shadows of the setting sun, so my mother called her "Da Gui", "Iron Tree", "Silver Tree" and "Iron Tree". "
The most important thing is that you have to be able to get the best out of your life, and you have to be able to get the best out of your life, and you have to be able to get the best out of your life.
The most happy than in July and August, when the whole yard of the laurel tree have blossomed, golden, silver flash in a row. From a distance, they look like wisps of scarlet clouds in the sky; up close, they look like subtle maidens. The old house was hidden in these dense flowers, and we could only faintly distinguish the bronze-colored eaves. I think this is appropriate to the right, because at this time the eaves have become a mole on the face of the osmanthus flowers, this mole is subtle and beautiful, delicate and gentle, hazy and a little real. Especially in the smoke curls, pink and white osmanthus and cooking smoke together, the moment of the old house is more elegant.
At the beginning of August, the osmanthus tree's branches and leaves have long been crowded with dense flowers, they are a cluster of a group hanging on the branches. Let us not distinguish which is the flower which is the leaf, only feel full of pink and white and golden. Some of the flower branches also sneak out of the wall, over the corner, climbed all over the neighbor Aigoo's balcony. At this time, Aigoo always love to poke her head over and say to us, "It seems that your family's osmanthus tree can become my family's regular guest." Aigoo's cheerful laughter followed....... Within a few days of blooming, the heavy osmanthus blossoms bent the tree, and my grandmother was so distressed that she asked my father to set up a trunk under the blossom tree to share some of the pressure on the osmanthus, but sometimes some of the older branches were still broken by the blossoms. In the following days, the whole family seemed to be immersed in depression, especially the old grandmother, as long as the mention of osmanthus, she had flashing teardrops.
Shake the osmanthus when the most most happy, in the osmanthus forest, we are free to jump in the boughs of the trees, such as monkeys like a moment from the boughs of this tree leaped to the other side to go, leaving only a string of copper bells like a laughter, a tree hastily swaying, a ground scattered osmanthus, a wisp of osmanthus fragrance swinging in the mid-air, the silhouette of the people have long disappeared without a trace. Mother especially like those who have just been shaken down the osmanthus, because they have just been shaken down the osmanthus is not only fresh and fragrant, the most important thing is that it also carries a wisp of pure breath, a touch of spiritual rhyme, with them to brew osmanthus wine is the best.
Shake the osmanthus activity mostly by me and my little sister to play the leading role, I will skillfully hold the thick tree body, two small feet stick to the sides of the tree to a fish leap or two, it quickly leapt to the top of the tree. After the tree, I will hold on to the top of the tree or the tree, my hands clamped on the branches and leaves, and my feet jumped up and down in a regular manner. In a short while, the osmanthus blossoms on the tree flew up, sprinkling like fine rain on the ground in baskets and baskets. The rustling sound of the falling flowers was like a lover's honeyed words, delicate and soft. The little kids under the laurel tree have long been turned into little snowmen.
In the season of laurel blossoms, my mother made laurel cakes, laurel cakes, and laurel candies and waited for everyone to come. The several jars of old osmanthus wine placed in the corners of the patio have long been fragrant with the aroma of wine brewed over the years and deposited among the green stone slabs. My mother always loved to pick down the fresh golden laurel to make sweet farmhouse sweet rice wine, and then divided into small cans and small cans, and then smilingly to the neighbors in the alley. I always asked my mother about the inferior products that were left in my own home, and all I got in return was a smile on my mother's face.
The old ladies across the street always love to visit us, and when they go, they always pick a few branches to bring back home, and then trim them a little bit to insert them into the hall or room, and then it is full of fragrance and the old ladies sweet smile. My mother was a good osmanthus cake maker, so she always attracted a lot of peasant women in the village to learn the art, but strangely enough, no matter how they did it, it was not as delicious and fragrant as my mother's. They joked that it was my mother's fault for making the cake. The people said in jest that your family's osmanthus flowers have spirit.
Later, our family moved to the city, and we didn't plant any more osmanthus flowers. The first time I saw this, I was in the middle of a long journey, and it was a long time before I was able to get back to my family.