On the street

Watermelon Days

I have to give the people of Atkins credit. As soon as the rain started Saturday morning I thought my hopes of going to the town's annual Watermelon Days celebration were dashed. But, with my family in tow we headed out anyway, crossing our fingers there would be folks to talk to. And, there were. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people wandering around the festival grounds considering that it was pouring. (Like my grandpa always says: "It was really coming down." To which my grandmother's sarcastic reply is: "Do expect it to be going up Tommy?"

Regardless of the rain, though, there were a lot of families with small children participating in the kid's events, darting from one tent to the next. People were soaked but they seemed to be having a good time.

I didn't actually see any watermelon at watermelon days, mostly because I hit the beer tent because it looked like the driest place around and I thought dry people might be more willing to talk about the best way to eat watermelon. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that so many of them weren't interested in being in the paper. Most were soaking wet and not excited about getting their picture in the paper.

Still those that did join in the fun, had some good answers. They pointed out that you have be a good seed spitter or that you should just dive in face first and make a mess. I do agree that eating watermelon is an act that, if done correctly, should be very messy. Just like eating watermelon any other time of year except for summer would seem wrong, eating it with a fork is just somehow not the same. I've never quite conquered the art of spitting out seeds though. That's why I'm a big fan of the seedless watermelon. It's perfect. I can still eat wedges of watermelon, the juices dripping down my chin and allover the ground. But, I don't have to worry about those pesky seeds.

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