“When one has tasted watermelon, he knows what the angels eat.”
- Mark Twain-
Yes, the deliciousness of the oblong fruit that finds its way from garden, to market, to home, filling our mouths and bellies with the sweet goodness of that beautiful crimson fruit, WATERMELON!
Watermelon didn’t always grow in our backyard gardens. A gentleman named Harry Paris, a horticulturist at the Agricultural Research Organization in Israel, notes that the writings from 400 B.C. to 500 A.D. reveal that the watermelon may have come from northeastern Africa to the Mediterranean. He believes its account as a natural canteen for fresh water may have helped in the watermelons journey from one continent to another.
Many people all over the world enjoy the tradition of watermelon, my family has to have one on hand during the summer months when it is in season...the Fourth of July is not the same without it. I remember when Tony (my husband) and I searched all over Barrow Alaska on the Fourth of July, looking for a watermelon. Finding a watermelon in the Arctic is a real test, it was the early 80’s, and the way the groceries were delivered was by a Hercules C- 130 turboprop plane. We finally found a watermelon at Alaska Commercial...also known as Stauqpak, meaning “Big Store,” and it only cost us 25 dollars! Needless to say we enjoyed watermelon on the Fourth with friends while looking out at the icebergs floating by on the Chukchi Sea...A.K.A. the Arctic Ocean.
However you partake of this wonderful melon may you always find yourself leaving a few seeds and melon bits around for the next year’s harvest and all the creatures that need a little of the angels feast.
Bon Appetit!
This illustration is called Muse the mouse…it can be used as an invitation card, birthday card, a card to tell someone ”I love you more than Watermelon!” Or a framed poster piece for a child’s room, or wherever you may like.
