Saigon corner

3:30 pm. A cool afternoon. There are no ducks or geese swimming on the lake. In the lake and at lakeside, small brown turtles and big yellow fish are quietly waiting.

There is a ‘do not feed fish’ sign, but some people still do it. Because fish are used to being fed, when they see a shadow of a person on the lakeside, they come and invite the turtles to come for the feast. Sorry, this person only comes to see them, not to feed them.

A slight rustle in the bamboo bushes by the lake. Oh, a small white duck. It was sleeping on the green grass. What woke it up? But it seems to fall asleep again now.

Suddenly, a strong wind comes. A flock of about 20 pigeons fly from the other side to this side of the lake. They perch on the yellow flamboyant trees. It is January now, the trees have no flowers yet, until the summer comes.

Near the white duck, at lakeside, there is a whole bush of Bách Thủy Tiên (Echinodorus cordifolius) in full bloom. They are swaying. Their white flowers with yellow pistils are swaying. They are beautiful. Because Mother Nature so loves them, she makes them beautiful? Or are they beautiful because they love life?

Anyway, those white aquatic plants love sunshine. Yes, they love both water and sunshine. Ah, everyone living by the lake and in the lake loves both water and sunshine.

But why do these flowers sway when there is no wind?

Another small white duck comes out of the Bách Thủy Tiên bush. It walks to the sleeping duck under the bamboo bushes, bumps into it and wakes it up. However, the sleeping duck only opens its eyes for a couples of seconds and then fall asleep again. The newly arrived duck raises its head to the sky, uses its beak to pull a bamboo leaf, tugs it, and eats it.

Is the sleeping duck so sleepy that it doesn’t care about anything around it, or to it, no matter what happens, it is okay?

Peaceful space. Suddenly, there is a scream in the middle of the lake. It’s the small black goose. It often squeals out of the blue and flaps its wings noisily, making a huge splash like that. Its parents, two big black geese, are very calm. Yes, most of the guys and gals living by the lake and in the lake are quite calm, except for that noisy small black goose.

The family of black geese are swimming from the other end to this end of the lake. Following behind is the white goose family. The white goose couple’s baby is as big as its parents.

A loud rustling noise in the tall trees. The flock of about 20 pigeons fly from this side to the other side of the lake.

Pigeons poop a lot. They can poop while flying. Will they poop on the heads of these geese?

And the geese, how do they feel when their life is so beautiful and then pigeons poop on their heads? Are they upset? Or do they just dive under the water to wash themselves, and come back up to continue enjoying life like half a minute ago?

Everyday, ducks and geese swim and sleep, fish and turtles go to eating parties together, pigeons fly and poop, aquatic plants enjoy water and sunshine, flowers bloom and sway… Every day is a happy and peaceful day, like Tết.

Thank you, Mother Nature.

Celadon city, Saigon, Tết Ất Tỵ 2025
Phạm Thu Hương