KNOCK, KNOCK

My son Alex and I were at a farmer’s market picking up fresh fruits and vegetables for our Labor Day barbecue.

I looked in my cart. “Okay, we have a half a dozen ears of corn, some strawberries, blueberries, and…” I tried to remember what else we had said we were going to pick up.

“Didn’t you say you wanted some watermelon, too?” Alex said as he placed some apples in the cart.

“Oh, yeah! I can’t believe I forgot that.” I steered the cart over to a huge bin that was filled with watermelons. Several people were standing around it with watermelons cradled in one arm while they either knocked on the outside of the fruit or patted it with their hand trying to find the perfect one.

“It’s more crowded around this bin than the group standing around husking ears of corn!” I complained.

“Everyone’s just trying to get ready for their own barbecues.” Alex reasoned as he tried to get closer to the bin. “Which one looks good to you?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Well…” I waited for a spot to clear for me to step closer. “I was reading an article that said the best way to find the perfect watermelon is to look at the light and dark green lines and find the one with wider light green lines.” I picked up one of the melons. “Wow! This one is heavy!” I put it down and picked up another one about the same size. “Nope. The first one was heavier.” I put it down and picked up the first one again. “They also said that weight is important.”

I turned it over so that I could see the golden colored circle. “I’m also suppose to see a golden color, not white. That golden color means it hasn’t been moved from its spot on the ground and was able to fully ripen.”

“Aright.” He was looking at all the other shoppers knocking on their watermelons. “But aren’t you also suppose to do that?”

I leaned over to get closer to him. “The article said you really can’t tell that way.” I whispered.

Alex nodded. “Well, if you read an article and that’s what it told you to do then who am I to argue?” He started to laugh as he took the watermelon out of my hands and placed it in the cart.

“Hey!” I laughed as I started to push the cart to the check out line. “The article was written by an owner of a watermelon farm! I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about!”

“We’ll see.” Alex said as we reached the check out line and he placed our items on the conveyor belt.

Once we got home and put away all our groceries I took the watermelon over to the sink to give it a quick wash. “Okay.” I said as I placed it on the cutting board and wiped it dry with paper towels. “Let’s cut this baby open and see what we have!”

I sliced it in half and looked at the ruby red flesh. “It’s looking good!” I said as I cut away the rind and began cubing the piece into a bowl. I popped a small piece in my mouth. “Oh, my gosh! That’s so good!”

I looked over at Alex. “Do you want to try a piece?”

“Sure.” He got a fork out of the drawer and stabbed one of the pieces from the bowl. After a few chews he nodded his head. “It’s good.” He agreed.

“What do you mean it’s good?” I said as I got the plastic wrap from the drawer and cut off a piece to cover the bowl filled with watermelon. “That’s the best tasting watermelon I’ve ever had and it’s not even chilled yet!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “We’ve had good watermelons before.”

“Well, that was just luck.” I said as I put the bowl in the refrigerator. “But now I know how to pick one out without having to embarrass myself playing bongos, knocking on it with everyone else standing around the bin.”

“What do you mean, embarrass yourself?”

“I had no idea what I was suppose to be hearing when I was knocking on the outside of the melon.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’d just knock, put it in my cart, and hope for the best.”

Alex patted me on the shoulder and kissed the side of my head. “I’m glad you found the secret to a perfect watermelon.” He said as he headed for his room.

“This is going to be the best Labor Day barbecue ever!” I called after him.

“It always is.” He called back.