Why Watermelon Makes My Mind Wander

A walk down memory lane with my favorite fruit

In reacting to the Thank You Notes Week #8 prompt, I could have easily decided to focus on the obvious reasons watermelon is my favorite fruit. It’s the perfect summer treat. Deliciously sweet with a happy shade of pink and a unique texture that cools the inside of your mouth better than any popsicle. It’s low-calorie, too, so guilt-free food is always a plus.

But for me, the absolute best part about eating watermelon is that it evokes some pretty vivid memories from different times in my life, starting with my childhood.

My brother is three years younger than I am, and we didn’t always get along growing up. In fact, I can remember some pretty horrific battles between the two of us, which I’m sure stressed my mom and dad out on more than one occasion. But in the summertime, we loved to sit together on the tiny set of stairs off the back porch of our home and eat watermelon off the rind. We’d let the juice drip down our arms. Sometimes he’d wipe it on me and I’d squeal.

The best part was trying to spit the seeds into an oversized metal tub that my mom had filled with dirt. (This was obviously before seedless watermelon was developed). We’d compete with each other to see who could shoot those suckers the farthest and high five whenever one landed inside the tub.

As the summer weeks passed, we’d stare at the dirt, waiting for tiny stems of green to sprout up. Our goal was to see one grow into a big enough watermelon that we could eat it. That never happened, but we sure had fun trying.

It’s funny how such a silly little thing like spitting watermelon seeds can take you back to a simpler time and remind you that it doesn’t take much to find joy in the moment.

The word “watermelon” itself reminds me of my very short-lived experience as a “singer” — or perhaps I should say as a member of a couple of choirs. In high school, I joined the choir, most likely because I needed another elective and it fit into my schedule.

Our choir director took her job very seriously and her pet peeve was when students forgot the words during a live…

Related posts:

Dubai continues to see rapid blockchain adoption as Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Mashreq bank announced the launch of their KYC platform. The platform is built upon distributed…

These deals could be equity capital raises, secondary transactions, convertible loans, and the issue of derivatives like options for employee ownership. When there is a deal the company publishes it…

I open my eyes every morning with delusional forgetfulness of the plight we are all in Another day at home with the same general schedule, the same regular meals, the same feeling of humdrum and…