Watermelon Time!

The day has come! The watermelon vine growing in the garden has produced a wonderfully large melon. Is it ripe? Just how do you tell? My dad always used the "thump" method..he would walk around the field thumping this melon then that melon. Somehow the man always could pick out the ripest melons. He used to tell me to listen for "thud" not "poink"! I had no idea..thud.. poink ..thud.. poink. My thuds and poinks all sounded the same. By the time I finished thumping melons, my finger was sore and no melon had been picked. He also used the "squish" method. To do this, he would press down on the melon firmly and listen. If he heard a squish or slight cracking noise, he knew the melon was red ripe and ready to eat. This method seemed to be easier for me..I was good at squishing things! Only one drawback to this test..you only get one chance. If you squished and it was not ripe, it would never squish again. But now it was time to check our melon. The one on the volunteer vine that completely took over the garden. The rogue runner that climbed fences and escaped into the yard had a gorgeous large melon. It was literally hanging on the fence. It dangled there growing larger and larger. It needed picking..it was time for the test. Thump, thump, thump. Now was that a thud or a poink? Hmmm.. sounded more like a "thoink"! Is a thoink ripe? Well, maybe the squish test was in order. I knelt on the ground with my ear close to the melon. Hands ready..I pressed. Wait was that a squish? Could it be?? Oh, it was a squish alright..my marvelous melon had rolled right on a bell pepper that had fallen from a nearby plant. Now I had no idea if my melon was ready or not. My squish test had failed and my thumps had turned to thoinks. Enough is enough! I pulled off the melon's stem and toted the beauty inside. My son took down a nice sharp knife and poked the melon gingerly. A large "crack" and it split into two parts. The red ripeness trickled over the sides and onto the table. Our melon was ripe! Beautiful! Delicious! Just think..there are five more melons on this vine just waiting for my precise method of ripeness testing!

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing in the Fall decorations box. After much pulling, shoving and poking, I created a "hay bale" for the scarecrows. There was a very large cooler sitting in my living room ever since May and my daughter's wedding. This was covered with burlap and is now a "hay bale"! I know that I am probably the only crazy lady that does not mind a family of scarecrows residing in her living room but they look so happy being out of their box!