The heat dissipated and the stars came out. On a midsummer night, there is always endless interest.

Outside the window at dusk, the sky is covered with clouds. The child looked up at the stars just sticking out of his head, pointing and imagining. I don't feel nostalgic for the picture of enjoying the cool summer night when I was a child. All ages love to bring a palm fan.

The days are cool and slender, and it is already dark at night. There is a sound of flapping fans from time to time in the silent night sky. People who ate dinner earlier went out to enjoy the cool in twos and threes, fanning their fans while walking on the country road. They have palm fans in their hands, which are naturally heavier than folding fans, and the sound of fanning is also heavier. Compared with folding fans, palm fans are considered "unrestrained".

At that time, people liked to sit in the yard before going to sleep. Today, they are in your yard, and tomorrow they will go to his yard. Wherever they are busy, they will go there. Before going out, mother always told us to bring our own fans. Every household has this fan, and every household makes it by hand. My family's fan was made by my father himself.

My father cut off the palm leaves from the palm trees in the back hill, patiently tore them off one by one and put them in boiling water in the stove for about ten minutes. Then, he put the boiled palm leaves in the sun to dry. After drying, the leaves faded cyan and were no longer heavy. My father only took twenty or so long leaves in the middle, and put two palm leaves together, one up and one down, and the two palm leaves were woven alternately. Almost finished, he wove the leaves on both sides of the handle from the top, skewered the extra part from the handle to the fan with a bamboo stick, wrapped the edge with cloth, gave it to his mother to sew the edge, and finally wrapped the handle with thick cotton thread. In this way, the practical and exquisite fan is finished. The newly made palm fan, gently shaken, has the fragrance of palm trees.

Father always makes more, fearing that people will forget to bring fans when they come to our yard to enjoy the cool. Everyone has a fan in his hand, and he is not afraid of heat or mosquitoes. Everyone sits around and gently shakes the palm fan, chatting about family and telling myths. Old people will also recall the past and describe what they looked like when they were young. Several children chase fireflies, count the stars in the game, and have a small contradiction. They will come to the adults to complain angrily, and the story they are telling is interrupted, and there is no ending for the time being. Later, the story will be told many times, and the complete version can always be heard.

In the cool night, people are so happy to repeat the story and spend a long time slowly. Watching my father make palm fans fascinated me, and slowly, I learned it myself. Nature's natural materials always have infinite charm. I met several palm trees when I went to the suburbs for a holiday, so I couldn't help but pick a few palm leaves.

"How long haven't seen, the stars in the sky; How long has it been before? bloom's voice sounded melodious songs, which made people feel deeply touched. Slow down, on this midsummer night, it seems to be back to the old days when I lived in the country.

(The article was published in Suihua Evening News on July 2 1 2002)