Pear tree, a house with beams, an extremely harsh winter...
There was a pear tree in our yard. My father used to say, "I planted it the year Umarjon was born." Its fruit was large, juicy, and its skin
A pear tree, a house with a main beam, an extremely harsh winter...
Have you ever heard the saying that just as every human being who comes into this bright world has their own personal life, good and bad days, other living creatures, trees, large buildings, and structures also have their own history and destiny?
My late father lived for 82 years. My eldest brother, Umarjon Hofiz, used to say: "God willing, I will reach my father's age." His wish was granted.
There was a pear tree in our yard. My father used to say: "I planted it the year Umarjon was born." Its fruit was large, juicy, with a speckled skin, and its taste was different from other pears. That pear tree lived in our yard for a full ninety years and bore fruit for that long. I remember it getting sick once, its trunk bending and cracking, and its branches starting to dry up.
My brother Rahmonjon said, "Well, is that it, are you going to dry up? Here you go," and started sawing it here and there, but my father, who was lying on his side on the veranda, shouted to stop him, saying, "Leave it, don't saw it, God willing it will recover, you'll see, we will still eat many pears from it."
And so it happened. In the spring, the pear tree straightened up, its side branches grew, and the wounds on its trunk healed.
In the early fifties, my father bought a poplar tree from someone for twenty rubles. He had craftsmen shave its thick and long trunk and built a house with a main beam. On the roof of such a house, the main beam is laid lengthwise, and smaller beams are placed on top of it from both sides, facing each other; it is wider and warmer compared to other houses.
We grew up in that house. Many years passed, and houses with main beams went out of fashion. My brothers renovated the house. We took the main beam out to the edge of the yard. After lying there for a year or two, it was used for the roof of our new barn at the edge of the yard. When the barn was demolished, it became a long support beam for the shed.
When the time came, it was my turn to rebuild the yard. There was no need for the shed. We demolished it. The main beam, which had started to rot at both ends, was left without a purpose again. In the meantime, my father passed away. We carried the beam and took it outside our gate. Those who came to the funeral spread quilts over it and sat there reciting prayers for my father's soul. For many years, people sat on it during the neighborhood's events, both sad and happy, and it witnessed many prayers. Then...
One year, the winter was extremely harsh. There was no coal, and dung fuel was scarce. We chopped up the main beam, which had reached the end of its life, and burned it in the hearth, burying its embers in the sandal (traditional floor heater), and made it safely through to spring.