At that time, only rich families in Tho Ha ancient village could use water from wells, because digging wells cost a lot of money. In addition to the usual rainwater storage items such as jars, jars, barrels, pots, every house at that time tried to build a large tank to be able to hold the most rain water. My grandmother’s family is not well-off, so having an open well is always a wish, but in return, my grandmother’s house has the biggest “big” rainwater tank in the village when it can hold several hundred loads of water. My grandmother told me that when she got back to be a bride, she saw the tank in front of the house, covered with green moss. My parents worked in the city, sent me to live with my grandparents, and my grandmother’s rainwater tank became an unforgettable impression of my childhood because I went to the pool a few times every day to draw water and witness the tank rinsing is very… scary!
The house’s rainwater tank is half underground and half above it. The pool is so deep that an adult can stand upright every time they wade into the tank without fear of hitting the top of the tank. Every year before the rainy season, when the tank has run out of water, the cleaning of the tank takes place. When I was little, I just stood and watched him or my grandfather do it, when I was a little older, I went down to help him and Grandpa clean the tank. Every time he entered the tank, his grandfather had to climb the ladder and move carefully because the tank was not only deep but also slippery because the walls and bottom of the tank were covered with moss. Entering May or June, the rainy season comes, waiting for the first rains of the season to wash off the dust on the roof, in the gutters, before opening the lid of the tank to start storing rain water for the whole family. After only a few heavy showers, each lasting for a few hours, the whole deep and wide pool was filled with water. In addition to the times when it is necessary to draw water to use, the tank lid is always closed to prevent dirt and insects, frogs, etc. from falling in. I remember in Tho Ha ancient village at that time, every house used hollow bamboo or areca stalks to make a trough to carry water from the roof to the cistern, only in my grandmother’s house the gutter was made of plastic pipes. Grandmother said that plastic gutters are clean, easy to clean, and last longer than using bamboo.
I don’t know if it’s because of cooking from rain water that my grandmother’s rice is always sweeter and tastier than any rice I’ve eaten? And the scent of tea brewed from rainwater boiled on a wood stove is always fragrant, colorful and sweeter than tea brewed with other water sources? I’m not sure, just remember at that time, every time the house made tea to invite guests, everyone who drank it complimented the delicious taste and before leaving, always asked my grandmother for a bottle of rain water drawn from the pool to take home to prepare. drinking tea. My grandmother, every time she brews soy sauce, uses rain water to soak the mold. She said using well water to make soy sauce will reduce the sweetness. Every house in the village unfortunately runs out of rain water, they will anyway go to their grandmother’s house or neighbors to ask for rain water to make sure the sauce is delicious. The day I went to the city to go to university, when I heard that my aunt and uncle had destroyed the rainwater tank with the reason that the house already had tap water, so that the tank would only fill up the land, I was indescribably sad! In the following years, every time I return Tho Ha ancient village to visit my grandmother, looking at the garden without a rainwater tank, I feel that I have lost something very precious…
