a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Warm Watermelon

Was reading a great post at Wishes, Dreams & Other Things.  Ida mentioned how she didn't like watermelon.  I thought I was alone!  Glad to know a fellow watermelon disliker.

Mom said it was her fault I didn't like watermelon.  She told me how she was craving watermelon when she was pregnant with me.  It was late October in 1954 and Dad drove all over trying to find a watermelon in St Louis, Missouri.  Finally he found one, much to Mom's delight.  She cut it open immediately and began to eat.  Something was wrong with it and she became very ill.  Her conclusion was I didn't like watermelon because of that...an old wive's tale.

I never developed a love for this fruit/vegetable.  I kept trying.  I did love the watermelon seed spitting contests we had.

We grew our own watermelons.  Some, for what ever reason, might begin to end rot in the field.  As children part of our job was to find these melons and pick them for the pig and chickens to eat. Waste not, want not.  We discovered that the heart, which was still good, is mighty tasty on a warm summer day.  I remember busting a watermelon open in the field (a forbidden thing to happen with a good melon) and digging in with bare hands to reach the seedless portion.  The memory of sweet watermelon juice running down my arms as we ate with no manners sitting in the dirt still makes me smile.  This was the only time I enjoyed watermelon.  That and when we sold them because we were allowed to keep part of that money.

Thanks, Ida, for bringing that memory to the surface.

13 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

a very good memory.

MadSnapper said...

I love this photo. you are so cute and it looks just like you look now.. those are really big watermelons.

Ginny Hartzler said...

You are so cute! I love your watermelon history, what wonderful stories! They paint wonderful pictures in my mind. And there just may be a kernel (seed) of truth in what happened to your mom and your melon dislike. Stranger things have happened. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Ginny Hartzler said...

P.S. I never liked watermelon!!!

LindaG said...

We have tried growing watermelon. It is something we all enjoy. However, we have yet to master the art of the ripe melon. Whether thumping it, looking at the... pigtail? Looking at the color of the bottom, or indeed, the outer rind color as a whole; picking a just right, ripe melon has yet to be mastered, haha!

I did know that chickens like watermelon, and for that reason, when we finally get some, we will grow melons and pumpkins for the chickens, if not for us. ^_^

Hope you all have a blessed holiday weekend, Gail. ♥

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Well, I can now say I know two people who don't like watermelon. You and my cousin. I love it...yellow, sweet, and ripe. Otherwise, I'm with you. It's gotta be just right...and ice cold.

Lowcarb team member said...

I do like watermelon and I loved reading your story.
Memories are so special.

Hope your weekend is going well.

All the best Jan

Far Side of Fifty said...

Wonderful old photo! Watermelon is one of our favorites! :)

Martha said...

What a love post; full of so many great memories. We are opposites on this because I LOVE watermelon. It is my favourite fruit.

Dreaming said...

I don't care for watermelon either!
Love the picture... I had my hair cut in the same style!

Josie Two Shoes said...

I adore that photo, how cute! I love those old wives tales, and they stood by those beliefs firmly! I like watermelon best icy cold, and then only in small pieces, it gives me a bad case of belly bloat! ;-)

Arkansas Patti said...

Those old wives knew something or they wouldn't have become old. Such a cutie you were and what huge watermelons you grew. I am so so about watermelon. If it is in front of me and cold, I will eat it but I really don't think I have ever bought one. This year however for kicks, I placed one plant in my garden just to shake things up.

Susan Kane said...

Huge melons! Joy in the center! I can still hear the sound of a cold melon being cut open in the kitchen.

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