Watermelon Seeds
I was alive for the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Independence. I was three. I don’t have any memories of it. Now that we are approaching the 250th anniversary, it makes me realize a few things. 50 years is not as long as I thought. Our country is relatively young. However, 50 years is also a long time too. Think of all the changes the world has seen in the past half-century. Also, I don’t have any huge, momentous memories tied into the 4th of July. What I most remember is watermelon seeds.
I used to spend a couple of weeks each summer when I was grade-school age with my dad’s parents. My brother and I would spend those weeks helping around the house, (one year we helped re-shingle the roof!), hunting box turtles, climbing the tree in the back yard, and eating popsicles and drinking root beer. I also remember church picnics for July 4th. And that is where I learned to spit watermelon seeds.
For younger people today, this may seem weird, but watermelons used to have so many seeds. You would take a wedge of watermelon still on the rind (they didn’t do cubes back then), and bite into it. There would be dozens of seeds in the first bites near the center of the fruit. You would have to do your best to squish and swirl the juicy fruit to the back and swallow, all the while being careful to filter out the seeds into a cheek. Then, once all the water and fruit was down your gullet, your could machine-gun-spit the seeds right into the grass. This was a skill you had to work at to acquire, but it was so much better than picking through the fruit with a finger or a fork to eliminate the seeds beforehand. THAT way was way too messy and you lost too much of the sweet watermelon water.
I often wondered if there would be a bunch of watermelon plants sprouting up in the park after every 4th of July picnic. I never saw any. But I also wondered about the possibility of a watermelon plant sprouting in your belly if you accidentally swallowed a seed or two along the way!
Sure, there were firework shows. There were patriotic songs and parades. However, me most vivid memories are of my grandad showing us how to spit the seeds as far as we could. THAT is Independence Day for me.
I used to spend a couple of weeks each summer when I was grade-school age with my dad’s parents. My brother and I would spend those weeks helping around the house, (one year we helped re-shingle the roof!), hunting box turtles, climbing the tree in the back yard, and eating popsicles and drinking root beer. I also remember church picnics for July 4th. And that is where I learned to spit watermelon seeds.
For younger people today, this may seem weird, but watermelons used to have so many seeds. You would take a wedge of watermelon still on the rind (they didn’t do cubes back then), and bite into it. There would be dozens of seeds in the first bites near the center of the fruit. You would have to do your best to squish and swirl the juicy fruit to the back and swallow, all the while being careful to filter out the seeds into a cheek. Then, once all the water and fruit was down your gullet, your could machine-gun-spit the seeds right into the grass. This was a skill you had to work at to acquire, but it was so much better than picking through the fruit with a finger or a fork to eliminate the seeds beforehand. THAT way was way too messy and you lost too much of the sweet watermelon water.
I often wondered if there would be a bunch of watermelon plants sprouting up in the park after every 4th of July picnic. I never saw any. But I also wondered about the possibility of a watermelon plant sprouting in your belly if you accidentally swallowed a seed or two along the way!
Sure, there were firework shows. There were patriotic songs and parades. However, me most vivid memories are of my grandad showing us how to spit the seeds as far as we could. THAT is Independence Day for me.
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