In the past, in
Minangkabau (a district which is inhabited by
Minangkabaunese), river was important thing beside coffee shop. That was
because there were many people who went there to clean their body and take a
rest after had worked all day in the field or in the fishpond. In the river,
they liked to share information likes when they will harvest? What happen in their village? Who will get married? Where does his
nephew or niece school? What ethnic group will do “Batagak
Pangulu” (a party to celebrate someone in their ethnic group is elected
becoming their ethnic leader)? and many others. In addition,
swim in the river can make your life is longer, it is
because mineral contents in the river and
sunshine which are need to build our bones can be absorbed by our bodies. River
also took a function as water source us for cooking and drinking for them. Not
only that, river is also used to wash clothes. They liked to do that in a group
and chatting about people in their village. In the special moments, they also fished
fishes there to cook. However, in my village, Sigaung, many people like to go
to the Kapocong River (named of the river in my
village) because of its beauty.
Kapocong River is one of beautiful sceneries that is given by God for people in Sungai Asam (an
area in Padang Pariaman, West Sumatera, Indonesia). It dissociates Sigaung
Dalam and Sigaung Luar (two villages in Sungai Asam) which are there in higher
area. Nearby Kapocong River, there are a building,
Surau Tampek, which is only used for mauluik ,point out of Muhammad birthday,
and Tarawiah ,a kind of pray that Muslims do every night in fasting month. From Surau Tampek, we have to go down the stairs
that is made by people from the roots of the biggest
tree in rivers side.
Standing in Kapocong River side, we can see rice in the field with green
leaves. That can make us relax and our heart becomes peaceful. When farmers harvest their rice, you also
can nature music which is posed by tools that farmers use to fall down rice
seed. When we see the pure water in Kapocong river will tempt us whom are tired
after worked for a day to soak there in sunshine which is stymied by leaves on the trees in rivers sides. Thick leaves will make
you relax because you can breathe with much
oxygen that they produce, so the air is so fresh. Sometimes you will find some
things float upward on the river, however, if you
are lucky, you will find some kinds of fruits such as jackfruit, durian,
coconut, mango, and also pomegranate.
So, many people like go
to river now because they can see nature scenery which make them
relax. Even though we have nice restroom in the house, it will be fun to try swim
in the river with our friend. It can make us more sociable and have fun, too.
We can make plan to go there every month because of it beauty, and we do not
have to waste much money to refresh our mind and body.
