That’s what Mark Twain said about watermelon.
It is the chief of this world’s luxuries, king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat. It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took; we know it because she repented.
- Pudd’nHead Wilson
Watermelon is the summer treat we craved when we were young, but I swear we weren’t angels! Did you ever try to spit watermelon seeds? That was a favorite summertime occupation for us. I wasn’t ever very good at it, but my brothers and cousins could hit targets! The only time I had any success at spitting the seeds was when I was missing a front tooth. The rest of the time, the seeds just dribbled down my chin.
We didn’t serve fancy melon balls. That’s for sissies!
Fancy schmansy melon
When we ate watermelon, it was in the backyard, so my Mamaw didn’t have to clean up the mess. I can see Papaw now in my mind’s eye. I’ll try to conjure a picture for you:
Papaw is in the shade of the oak trees by a picnic table. Newspapers are spread on the wooden slats of the table. He has that knife of his clutched in his gnarled hands as he bends over the watermelon he just brought from the well house (where it was cooling since he picked it in the field yesterday).
Perhaps you have seen knives like the one he wields: it once was as thick as a butcher knife, but years of sharpening the blade against his whetstone have honed it until it is as fine as a stiletto. It cuts through that watermelon rind as if it were butter.
He slices the watermelon in half, and then cuts huge “half moon” servings of watermelon. All of the kids gleefully take our servings to sit on the porch, chomp that watermelon and spit the seeds. When we have eaten away the last bit of pink from the rind, we take the carcass of the watermelon to feed the pigs and then run through the sprinkler to wash ourselves clean.
That was summer in east Texas. And, this is an entry into Robin’s Summer Stock Sunday Project. Other bloggers are using pictures to chronicle what summer means to them…what does summer mean to you?
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{ 8 comments }
You’ve given me SUCH a craving for watermelon! Israeli watermelons are almost always seedless. Much easier to eat, but I think the kids are cheated out of the whole seed-spitting experience. Israelis also usually cut the watermelon up into chunks and eat them with a fork – often out of a communal bowl in the middle of the table. Funny how things can be both different and the same, isn’t it.
.-= Robin´s last blog ..Summer Stock #8 – Tel Aviv Photo Walk =-.
I remember eating watermelon on the back porch of a rental cabin at Germantown State Park (?) and spitting the seeds into the woodsy backyard. Then we went back the next year to see if the seeds had sprouted! *lol* I remember the lyrics “Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy…” coming from the jukebox in the main building. The 60′s were great, weren’t they?
.-= LuAnn´s last blog ..Mr. Snugglebutt – The Mighty Hunter =-.
Mom made sure we ate watermelon outside too. I was never good at seed-spitting either. Earlier this week we stopped at a roadside market and bought a small watermelon. I did cut it up into chunks to make it easier to eat. Too bad my growing old and lame has taken away some of my childhood.
.-= Carol G.´s last blog ..Thursday Thoughts # 4 =-.
Shelly, you have done it yet again! Captured the essence of Summer not only in your words but in that luscious image! I too, remember the juice running down my arms and seed spitting. My brother was dangerous!! I get so sad when I can’t find anything but seedless watermelon. Even though for we “grown-ups” the seeds are more hassle than fun, there is just something wrong with creating a fruit that can’t reproduce/propagate.
.-= Thorne´s last blog ..Yucca Hesperia =-.
Ahhhh, a perfect summertime treat…and it does stir distant memories…good ones!!!
.-= Becky´s last blog ..Squirrels Gone Wild or Going Squirrly =-.
I agree! No fancy shmancy
Just a big cut that gets in my ears – watermelon is summer!
.-= Ellie´s last blog ..Monkeying Around =-.
I just cut up a watermelon last night and with my first bite I was disappointed. I haven’t tried any from your neck of the woods but I have to say that the best watermelon I have ever had are in Greece. They are absolutely the sweetest I’ve ever tasted and I can hardly wait to have them again…ciao
.-= rositta´s last blog ..The Ultimate Car Salesman =-.
MMMMMM that surely does look good…we have had 3 seedless watermelons this year…the first wasn’t as good as the last two…what is the best test to tell if you are getting a good watermelon…
I thump it and if it doesn’t sound too hollow I say let’s get it! My son really thinks I know what I am doing…I just think to myself…..”I hope this is a good one”… If they can make them seedless..how about a transparent outer rind?????ok..maybe in just one spot ..I do love the look of rind….it just wouldn’t be a watermelon without the green stripes….besides, what else could I use to explain the looks of my baby tummy “stretch marks”?
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