The Spring Long Time Ago

Food, memoir 1 Minute

When I was a little girl and lived on the edge of the Mongolian Steppe, I disliked the spring very much, for the simple reason that our food was the worst in spring time. In those days, transportation was no good. All the potatoes people stored in the underground vaults from the year before were exhausted. And even the pickled vegetables were gone. Fortunately, we still had meat, dried radish, corns, and noodles. There was a significant decline in parties and invitations. Actually

However hope was in the air and everybody was waiting for May and June when all the vegetables and fruits would come. In our area, when the summer vegetables and fruits come in, life assumes a more exuberant form. And when the autumn comes, vegetables and fruits stuff the grocery stores. All of them were sold in chunks of at least five kilograms–the tomatoes, eggplants, cabbages, potatoes. Customers were given a big container–you had to fill up the container with fruits or vegetables; otherwise the cashier would not check you out. I ate at least five apples and five tomatoes a day. I still remember I ate more than six or seven peaches one day and almost got a diarrhea.

Also in the spring, the temperature swing was very severe. At noon, it was ok to wear shirt even. However at night, the Steppe wind would come and the temperature would dip to freezing. It’s a weird time. When we were at school, we had to wear winter jacket to come in since the morning was really cold. However at noon, we all wore shirts.

Now I am still waiting for the spring, but it is not coming yet. The flowers are nowhere to be found.

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Published by haoyando

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13 thoughts on “The Spring Long Time Ago”

    1. Yes, the wind in the Mongolian Steppe is like knives during winter time. The wind can almost like cut into your skin. One has to wear something to cover one’s face, only leaving two eyes uncovered for obvious reasons.

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  2. Wow that’s very extreme weather. It’s interesting how we always remember such things from our childhood. I remember disliking summer most because it was unbearably hot and food spoilt quickly because of it.

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    1. So true. Wish the weather can be more temperate and no extreme temperatures. Sometimes our childhood experiences influence us so much. I still dream (I mean really dream of it while sleeping) of things that I experienced in my childhood even if I haven’t lived in those places for years and years.

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        1. Yes, some will get over it, but some will not. Probably telling yourself often “to look ahead” and suppressing it often can do the job of forgetting the childhood, but sometimes it backfires.

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