Tuesday, June 15, 2010
1:23 AM
My Sweet Watermelon Man
I know what you're thinking. Watermelon isn't exclusively vintage, right? They still have it. I know. But watermelon was a big part of my life because my sweet grandad was a rancher/farmer who peddled watermelons and various other fruits and vegetables in the summer for extra money (and just because he enjoyed doing it) He was a peddler right up until just a year or so before he passed away. I hated vegetables but I have always LOVED watermelon. So my grandpa, who was a pro at telling which watermelons were the sweetest just by thumping and holding them, would always tuck away the very best of every load for me, his youngest grandchild. All of my life, until he passed away in my 30's, I always had the freshest, sweetest watermelons because my grandpa saw to it that I did. The yellows were my favorites of all and he would go out of his way to get me some though they were never as plentiful, her in Oklahoma. Every time I visited his house, he would have a cut watermelon waiting in the deep freeze for me. He put one it there about an hour before I was scheduled to arrive so that it would be ready to eat when I got there. If I couldn't visit, he would bring one by my house. How I do miss my sweet watermelon man. I've never had a watermelon that tasted so good since he left us. But everytime I see or taste one, I remember the man who gave me two of the most precious things I ever received in life: my mama and good watermelon.